The Walking Dead: SoS
by TOkun92
Summary: What if Shane wasn't killed by Rick? What if he survived? What would have happened if he survived? This.
1. Prologue

** I am now writing a Walking Dead Fanfic. Hope you all enjoy it. I know it wasn't on the list, but those are still in the process of being finished in my head. This story is all but finished. Please remember to Read & Review.**

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**The Walking Dead: Survival of Shane**

**Prologue**

Shane stood his ground as he aimed his gun at his best friend Rick Grimes. He aimed his gun at his head, looking into his friends' eyes as he did so.

After the dead came back to life and began to eat the living, Shane had taken Rick's wife, Lori, and his son, Carl, to what he believed was a safe place. Or at least safer.

Shane remembered the day he had tried to save Rick from the hospital; he had been shot and put into a coma by a bank robber about a month earlier, and hadn't woken up yet. Shane wanted to carry him out, but he didn't know if it would kill him to take him off of the machines.

Shane had looked out the door of Rick's room, and saw soldiers from the military shooting at people in patient gowns. The people weren't walkers, and didn't appear to have been bitten, so Shane had assumed that the military was ordered to kill anyone in hospitals, for fear of infection.

Not wanting to die himself, and he hid behind Ricks' bed only seconds before the same peope came to the room they were in. They didn't fire at Rick, and didn't notice Shane. They left without firing a single bullet; Shane assumed that they didn't want to waste the bullets on a comatose man, so they left him alone.

Once they left, Shane went back to trying to wake Rick. Seconds later, there was an explosion, and Rick's machines had gone off-line. Shane didn't know if Rick was dead or alive; he wanted to get him out of there, even if he was dead, but knew that if he tried, then he would die as well. He left his room, and blocked it the door with an empty gurney; he could only hope that Rick was alive and would wake-up soon.

Shane killed Randall, knowing he would have been a threat if he was allowed to live; he would have rejoined his old group, consisting of murderers and rapists, if he had the chance. He knew where their camp was; he was leading Shane there when he freed him, and that was what made Shane kill him.

Shane also killed Otis, a good man who wanted nothing but to help them, but only because it was either him or himself. Shane had told him to go ahead, but he wouldn't, not without Shane. Shane didn't want to kill him, but if he hadn't, then they both would have probably died. And if they died, then Carl died, and he wouldn't allow that. Not for anything.

Shane knew he was coming unhinged; that's why he wanted to leave after the CDC explosion. But with Carl's being shot, he couldn't; he could never forgive himself if he did. When he killed Otis, he shot him in the leg, so the walkers would be distracted with him. Shane screamed his apologizes, saying, "I"M SORRY! I"M SORRY!", over and over again, and when he got back to the farm, he shaved his head. He didn't want to look at that man in the mirror, and it was the only thing he could think of.

And now he was here, looking his best friend in the eyes with a gun aimed at his head. He had saved his life months before, and he now held a gun to his head. Rick wasn't built for the world they now lived in; he could kill another man, but only if they were an immediate threat, like the two from the bar.

"Don't do this brother!" Rick pleaded. "We can get through this. Just put the gun down." Rick had his gun on Shane, but slowly lowered it. He came closer to him, lowering the gun with one hand, and holding the other out.

Shane didn't know what to do; he wanted to make things right, but Rick made it hard. Shane began to lower his gun ever so slightly, then saw as Rick quickly reached for his knife. On instinct, Shane grabbed the knife and threw Rick to the ground. He aimed his gun at him, and looked him in the eye; he had tried to kill him.

Rick kicked the gun out of Shane's hand, then once in the stomach. Shane doubled over, and Rick kicked him in the face. Shane fell back to the ground, in a daze from the kick. Rick grabbed the gun Shane had on him, and aimed it at him.

He looked him in the eye. "You did this. I'm sorry!" His voice cracked with every word. "Good-bye Brother." This isn't what Shane wanted. Rick pulled the trigger, only to hear a click from the trigger. No bang.

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**How did you like it? The next chapter will feature the farm's destruction, but this time with Shane. Please Read & Review. **


	2. Fires of Earth

**Here's Chapter One of SoS! It was much longer, but I decided to cut it into two different chapters. This one ends halfway through the attack on the farm. Read & Review please! It was fun writing this, it really was.  
**

**Chapter One: Fires of Earth**

Rick looked stupified; he had just fought his best friend, each trying to kill the other, and he had one. He held the gun Shane aimed at his head just moments before, and pulled the trigger; but he only heard a click. No bang. No gunshot. No bullet. He looked at Shane, expecting him to make his move, thinking that the he would take advantage of this moment. But he only looked at him.

This wasn't what Shane had wanted. Rick looked at him, expecting to see terror, anger grief, something in his friends eyes; but he saw only disappointment. Shane wasn't scared, and neither did he flinch. At all. "Dad?" Rick heard someone yell, though he couldn't register who, at least not immediately. "Shane? What's going on?"

Rick finally registered the voice, recognizing it as being his son's. "Dad?" Carl yelled. Rick wondered if he had just seen everything that happened between him and Shane. "Is something wrong?" Rick saw his son running towards them.

"It's nothing Carl!" Rick yelled. "Just go back to the farm!" He walked to his son haggerdly, stumbling slightly from his brief fight with Shane.

Shane stood up, and walked after Rick. "It's nothing to worry about, Little Man!" Shane yelled to Carl. "Me and your old man just had small disagreement over how we should handle this Randall situation!"

Rick looked back Shane; why was he so calm? They had just tried to kill each other, and he was so calm. Rick looked back at his son, then noticed his terrified expression; thinking Shane was about to do something, he turned around, only to see Shane limping over to them. With a walker right behind him.

He saw Shane put his hands up. "Hey, whoa now Carl. We were just having a little fight; put the gun down." Rick then heard a gunshot that made his ears ring. He saw the walker's head bounce back from the bullet that was fired, and fall to the ground, dead. Shane dodged to his left to avoid the bullet, performing a combat roll, though he wouldn't have needed to; the shot was dead on, having hit the walker right in the forehead.

Rick looked back to see his son, holding a smoking gun; not only had Carl just killed his first walker, with a perfect shot no less, but he had saved Shane as well. Carl ran to his father. "Dad!" He cried, "you can't be fighting Shane; that walker would've gotten you both if I hadn't shown up!"

"I'm sorry Carl." Rick pondered what had just happened; his fight with Shane, Carl saving their lives, and his failed attempt at killing Shane. "It was just a small fight. It won't happen again."

"Nice shot Little Man!" Rick looked over to see Shane looking at the dead Walker, his face in an expression of awe. He walked over to inspect it, holding his knife just in case. "Right in the forehead! You're a goddamn crack-shot!" He kicked the Walker, releasing some anger unto the undead creature.

"What were you guys fighting about?" Carl asked. "Must've been bad to make you not realize a Walker was near you."

Rick looked back at Shane, who looked back at him; they didn't know how they were supposed to explain what had happened, how they had almost fought to the death. "We were arguing over what to do with Randall." Rick told his son. "We-"

"I killed him." Shane interrupted. "That's why we were fighting Carl; your old man wanted to let him go, and I didn't."

"Oh." Carl looked unfazed; he didn't understand that Shane had murdered him earlier, that he hadn't escaped. "Well, he did attack you. I would've done the same thing."  
Rick looked at Shane; he didn't want to lie to his son, and he didn't want Shane's murder to go unnoticed. Shane knew what Rick wanted, and looked at Carl. "It's not like that." Shane said. "I-"

A loud crunching sound was coming from behind the three of them. They instinctively went for their guns, and began to walk toward the sound, momentarily forgetting about their conversation. They walked to the top of the hill, their facing twisting into terror as an army of the undead coming their way. "Holy shit." Shane whispered under his breath. They began to run.

Rick, Shane, and Carl began to make a beeline for the farm, to warn the others of the impending army of Walkers. Carl was moving slower than the adults. Rick looked back, and was about to grab Carl to carry him, when he saw Shane do so before him. He watched as Shane grabbed his son and ran as fast as he could to the farm.

When they reached the edge of the farm, they saw hundreds of Walkers all around the property. Shane put Carl on the ground, letting him stand up; they would need all the man power they had to get to the others. They ran for the house, killing Walkers that came near them, either with a gun or a knife, and evaded others. Rick saw Carl shoot Walkers dead, most with only one shot, but became worried; he wasn't conserving his ammo, killing any Walker he came near rather than evade them.

The house blocked by several dozen Walkers, they ran for the barn, where Hershel had kept the Walkers before. They ran in and shut the barn doors. "How the hell did this happen?" Rick asked. "How did we not notice this?" Shane grabbed a beam of wood and placed it on the metal carriers, locking them in.

"Our idiotic fighting, that's how!" Shane yelled at him. Rick shot him a glare; Shane had acted as if the fight was both fault, which they both knew was a lie. Ignoring Rick's glare, Shane went for the ladder, grabbing it and picking it up so they could climb to the upper level of the barn. "Carl," Shane said, holding his hand out, "come on, you first."

Carl went for the ladder, but was stopped by Rick. "Wait!" He said. "I have an idea." Rick grabbed a can of gasoline that they kept in the barn and started to splash it around the barn. "Carl." He said while splashing it on the door to the barn. When finished with the gasoline, he took a lighter out of his pocket and threw it to Carl. "You and Shane go up. I'm gonna open the barn door, and when I tell you to, you throw the lighter."  
"What?" Carl said. "What if-"  
"No!" Rick yelled at him. "Just do it!" Doing as his father told him, Carl went as fast as he could up the ladder as he could, followed by Shane.

Shane understood why Rick gave Carl the lighter; he didn't want him to burn him to death, making some stupid excuse for doing so. The two stood there, watching as Rick reloaded his gun, making sure he had bullets in case the Walkers got near him. He went for the plank of wood and, without hesitating for a single moment, pulled it up. He ran as fast as he could for the ladder as the Walkers fell into the barn, holstering his gun.

Rick climbed the ladder as quickly as he could; he didn't think the Walkers would pile into the barn and fall, giving him plenty of time to get to the ladder. The ladder then began to move. Rick looked down to see three Walkers at the bottom, each trying to use the ladder. The ladder fell in the struggle, and Rick nearly went with it, having grabbed the edge of the second level before he fell, though only with his fingers. He struggled not to fall.

"Dad!" Carl yelled. He ran for his father, but Shane grabbed him back. "Dad!"

"Carl!" Rick yelled. He could feel the Walkers grabbing at his feet; he knew that they would pull him down soon, and he knew that Carl wasn't strong enough to pull him up. If anything, he would be pulled down with him. "Run Carl! Go!"

"NO!" Carl screamed. "Shane, we have to help him! PLEASE!"

Shane looked at Rick as he tried to think of what to do; he was afraid to try and pull him up, for fear that they would both be eaten by Walkers, but he was even more afraid of leaving Carl alone. He didn't think anymore. Shane grabbed Carl, who screamed at the top of his lungs, fighting the man who had been a second father to him. However, Carl stopped screaming once he noticed that he was bringing him to his father.

Shane grabbed Rick's arms, trying to pull him up, but some Walkers were holding onto his feet, making him to heavy to lift. "You gotta shoot the Walkers!" Shane yelled at Carl. "NOW!" Carl looked at Shane, then his Dad, who he saw to have a look of disbelief on his face.

He aimed his gun at the Walkers, firing a shot into the one holding Rick's right leg, killing it. He aimed for the other Walker, only to hear a clicking sound; the gun was empty. Shane pulled Rick up, groaning from the strain of picking up both Rick and the Walker. Carl got down on his stomach and grabbed his father's gun. He aimed at the other Walker and shot it dead. Shane pulled once again, getting Rick up. The two looked at each other, Rick with confusion, Shane with empathy.

"We gotta go." Rick said, still looking at Shane. "Now." They began to walk out, when Shane noticed the lighter on the floor, open and out. He stopped to pick it up, making Rick and Carl stop as well. He ignited the flame, and looked at Rick. He held the lighter out to him. Rick took the lighter and walked to the edge of the platform; he saw the Walkers with their hands in the air, trying to grab at them. He dropped the lighter setting the gas aflame. The three of them then ran for the exit as flames engulfed the barn, setting fire to every single Walker in it.

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**How was it? I'm trying to make it complicated. I know some of you may be asking; "What about Rick? Is he gonna be as hardened as he is in the show?" Well, to tell you the truth, I don't know myself. Maybe, maybe not. Please remember to Read & Review!**


	3. Roadside Rage

**** **Here's chapter two; Roadside Rage. Please remember to Read & Review. I had fun writing this one. Funny thing: I had written this before, but then it got backed up to a previous date. I tried to find a way to recover the file, but I couldn't. Oh well. ENJOY!**

**Chapter Two: Roadside Rage**

Rick, Shane, and Carl ran as quietly as they could, heading for the house. "I think we should think about another plan." Shane whispered. They could hear gunshots coming from every which way, but none close enough to tell where they came from.

"What do you mean?" Rick whispered back. "We can't just leave everyone, leave Lori!" Rick was loading Carl's gun with bullets.

"I didn't say that!" Shane said whispered. "I just meant that we should head somewhere else; they probably left the house, I mean look around! Do you think they stayed?!"

Rick thought of what Shane said. He finished loading Carl's gun and handed it back to his son. "Don't waste the bullets; choose your shots carefully." He looked to see how close they were to the farm. "We're close. We'll check the surrounding area; if it's surrounded, then we have to go back."

"Fine." Shane looked at Carl, whose finger, he noticed, shivering, whether from fear or being trigger happy, he didn't know, though he guessed a lot of both. "Don't be so jittery Carl. You don't wanna miss any shots; you're on a roll." Carl smiled, though his finger still shook.

They got closer to the house when they heard a gunshot that was close to them. They looked to where the shot sounded from, and ran to it. Rick lead the way, and soon saw Hershel shooting at Walkers, standing his ground, not moving an inch. Rick wondered why he wasn't running.

Rick saw a Walker heading for Hershel from behind, unseen by the farmer. Rick took aim and shot it dead. Hershel looked to his right, seeing the trio head for him. "Hershel, where're the others? Where's Lori?" Rick asked.

"They went on ahead." Hershel told him. "I don't know where they are now." He aimed his gun at a Walker near them, and shot it.  
"Well we gotta go, now!" Rick told him, grabbing Hershel's arm. He pulled him but the old man wouldn't move.

"I'm not going." He said. "I'm staying here; I'm dying with my farm." Rick looked him in the eye, and saw that he meant what he said.

"What?" Shane said, surprised at Hershel's words. "You're insane. You wanna stay, stay." Shane went to Rick's side. "Rick, we gotta go, now! Leave him if he wants to stay."

Rick looked at Shane. He clearly didn't realize that they needed Hershel. He looked back to Hershel. "What about Lori?" He asked. "We need you to deliver the baby. We need you!"

Hershel looked at him, and relented; he was the only doctor they had, and he couldn't let Lori deliver without him. "Alright." He said. "Lori and the others left the house already; we're not going to be able to find them."

"What do we Dad?" Carl asked. "We can't just leave Mom and the others here!" He looked around, taking a quick survey of his surroundings.

"We stay we die Carl." Shane said. "Besides, they're not gonna stay here; if anything, they'll go somewhere familiar."  
"Shane's right." Rick said. "For now we have to get out of here." Rick looked around for a car, hoping for a way to escape. He spotted Hershel's station wagon, and headed for it. "We'll go back to the highway, where the herd of Walkers passed us before. Hopefully the others'll be there."  
"Good idea." Shane said. The four of them ran to car, keeping an eye out for the others as they did. They made it to the car, and got in. Rick drove, with Carl in the passengers seat, and Hershel and Shane in the back. "Go!"

Rick started the car, and began to drive away. He was hoping to come across someone, but saw no one as he drove. He headed for the road, leaving the farm behind, to be overcome with Walkers.

The four of them drove in silence as they neared the highway where they supplies for Sophia; they hoped that the others had also thought of going there. The car soon began to slow. Rick looked at the gas meter, and saw it was on empty. The car died a few yards away from the highway.

Getting out of the car, they headed for the car where they left the supplies. They saw no one. "Why aren't they here?" Carl asked. "Dad, you said they'd be here."  
"I said I hoped." Rick went ahead to search for stray Walkers. He saw one, and hid behind a car until it passed. He then took out his knife and stabbed it in the back of the head, killing it. "We'll just wait here. They're bound to show up."  
"Your Dad's right." Shane stood a few feet away, keeping an eye out for Walkers. "Chances are they'll come soon."  
"Rick." Hershel walked away from Carl and Shane, gesturing for Rick to follow. They went off the road and stood there. "You have to leave; you have to get Carl somewhere safe."  
"What are you talking about?" Rick asked him. "We've gotta wait for the others, for Lori!"  
"You've got to think about Carl's safety; we don't know how long it'll be until they get here, _if_ they come here at all. We don't even know if they're alive." He looked Rick in the eyes. Neither wanted to admit it, but they both believed that they were all dead. "I'll stay here, just in case they show up. But you have to get your boy to a safe place, away from here."  
Rick looked at him with confusion; he didn't want to leave, just in case they showed up, but he didn't want to risk Carl's life. He ran back to Shane and Carl, trying to figure out what to do. When he came back, he saw Carl talking with Shane; Rick could only think that he was asking about his mother.

Shane saw him coming. "Rick!" He yelled. "How long you think until the others show up?" Rick prepared himself for what he was going to say. He walked up to them. Shane saw the look in his eyes and became worried. "What's the matter?"  
Not waiting any time, he decided to come straight out with it. "We have to go. It's too dangerous to stay here." He looked at Carl, whose face churned with fear.

"But Dad!" he yelled, "what about everyone else? What about Mom?" Rick was about to speak, but was cut off by Shane.

"Carl's right!" Shane yelled at him. "We can't just abandon them!" He walked up to Rick, anger in his eyes. "For Christ's sake Rick, Lori's pregnant!"  
"Don't you think I know that!" Rick looked him in the eye. "But I've gotta think about Carl; we don't even know if they're alive." His voice cracked a little at the end. "We have to think about Carl, right here, right now."  
Shane looked at him, thinking of Carl. He didn't want abandon Lori, abandon the baby, but chances were that they wouldn't see each other again. He looked at Carl, and saw in his eyes that he thought he was going to side with him.

"You're right." Shane lamented. "We have to go."

"But we can't!" Carl argued. "We have to wait for Mom!"  
"We can't do that Carl." Rick told his son. "We have to think of what's happening now."  
"But-" Carl began.

"Carl, you and your Dad go on." Shane interrupted him. "I'll stay here, just in case they come back." Rick looked at him.

"But you can't!" Carl told him. "I want us to stay together!" Carl began to break down; he didn't want to leave his mother behind, the unborn baby.

"Carl." Rick said. He got down to look his son in his eyes. "We have to go. We don't know if your mother's coming here. We don't even know if she's alive." Rick felt a few tears going down his cheeks. "We have to make sure that you're safe."  
"But Dad!" Carl began. "We can't just-"  
"Carl!" Rick interrupted. "I don't want to leave her either, but we've got to think about right now." He looked at Shane and Hershel, then back to his son. "Shane and Hershel will stay here, just in case. But we have to get you somewhere safe." Rick's voice cracked. "O-"

Rick stopped talking when he saw a familiar car approaching the highway. He stood up, and began to walk to it. Shane, Hershel, and Carl turned around to see T-Dog parking one of their cars. Next to T-Dog was Lori.

"MOM!" Carl yelled. "MOM!" He ran to Lori as she quickly got out of the car. She ran to her son.

"Carl!" Lori yelled. They hugged the moment they got to each other. "Thank god, you're okay!"  
Rick slowly walked to his wife, shocked that she was there, that she was alive. He saw T-Dog get out of the car, looking at the reunited family. Rick then saw another car pull up, this one containing Glenn, Maggie, and Beth. They all got out of the car.

"Dad!" Both Maggie and Beth yelled. They ran to Hershel, who looked like he about to cry. They hugged their father as tightly as they could.

"Maggie." Hershel said. "Beth." He hugged his daughters, happy that they were safe and with him again. "Thank god you're okay!"  
"Glenn made sure we were safe." Maggie said. "He saved us."  
Hershel looked at Glenn with admiration and pride. "Thank you Glenn." He released his daughters, then hugged Glenn as tightly as he could. "Thank you so much." He was happy that his daughter had chosen such a good man to be with. He knew he made the right choice in giving Glenn his family's pocket watch. Glenn returned the hug awkwardly.

A loud revving sound made everyone look back to cars. They saw Daryll approaching them on his motorcycle, with Carol sitting behind him. Stopping his bike, Daryll nodded his head at the group. "Sup." He said nonchalantly. "Everyone here?"

Everyone looked around. "Where's Andrea?" Shane asked.  
"I saw her on the farm." Carol told them. She stood next to Daryll, keeping close to him at all times. "I was with her before we got separated by the Walkers."  
"I'm going back for her!" Daryll said., walking to his bike. "I'll be back soon."  
"You're not going anywhere." Rick told him. "We're not separating, not again."  
"You want us to leave her there?!" Daryll asked. "What if this were Carl, or Lori?" He got closer to Rick.

"We don't know if she's alive." Rick said. "Even if she is alive, she's not gonna be at the farm."  
"Rick's right." Shane spoke up. "Either way, she's a lost cause."

Daryll didn't say another word; he didn't want to admit it, but they were probably right. He walked passed the others and sat down on one of the many abandoned cars.

"We have to get off the road." Rick told everyone, speaking up so everyone could hear him. "Let's gather as much fuel as we can from these cars, then get off the road."  
The group gathered all the fuel they could muster from the abandoned vehicles, though not much remained after their first scavenging venture. They headed out once they filled up the tanks.

The group passed no buildings as they drove, or at least ones that wasn't infested with Walkers. As night drew near, the group decided to stop at a clearing off the side of the road; they made camp in the center of a formation of rocks.

Rick stood, looking at his group. Shane sat next to Lori and Carl; Glenn was with the Greene Family; Carol was sitting next to Daryll, who Rick thought looked a little uncomfortable with the woman so close to him. They sat in silence as the fire crackled, contemplating the loss of the farm, their safe haven, their home.

"We should try and get some rest." Rick said, deciding to break the awkward silence. "Get up early so we can find somewhere safe in the morning."

"I'm gonna go look for something to eat." Daryll said, getting up from his spot next to Carol. He grabbed his bow and began to walk to the woods. "We're gonna want to conserve our canned goods. See if I can find anything."

"Don't go too far in," Rick told him, "we don't need to lose anymore people."  
"Shane and I'll survey the area, make sure nothings around that can hurt us."

"Alright." Shane said, getting up. He held his shotgun in his hands. "Carl, keep an eye on everything."  
"Alright." Carl said. No one laughed; it wasn't meant as a joke.

Rick and Shane walked around the area surrounding their camp, keeping an eye out for anything hostile.

"We have to talk." Rick said once they were far enough away from the camp. "About earlier."  
"I was kinda hopin' you would've forgotten about that." Shane admitted.

"I didn't." The two of them stopped, and they looked each other in the eye. "You tried to kill me."  
"I know. I was there." Shane began to look around, just in case a Walker was near and they didn't notice; neither of them wanted a repeat of what had happened earlier.

"You aimed a gun at my head!" Rick told him, loudly whispering.

"I remember!" Shane told him. "I tried to kill you; to murder. Okay? I admit it!"  
Rick looked at Shane with intensity. In the blink of an eye, Rick grabbed Shane's revolver, and held it up so he could see. "Then why was your gun empty?" He opened the barrel, revealing that there were no bullets in it whatsoever. "Who tries to shoot someone with an empty gun?"  
They looked at each other. Shane couldn't think of an excuse for the empty gun. "You wanted me to kill you, didn't you?" Rick pushed him. "DIDN"T YOU?!" He screamed as low as he could, so as to not alarm the others.

"Yes!" Shane said back. "Okay? I did!" He did not push back.

"Why?" Rick asked. "Why would you make me kill you?"  
"Because you ain't built for this world." Shane told him. "You can't protect Lori and Carl as well as you think you can!"  
"What do you mean?" Rick asked. "I've protected them! I've killed for them!"  
"But you have to get better. You're not hard enough, not like me." Shane felt some tears fall down his cheek. "If you were harder, then you could protect them better, better than either of us could now."  
They looked at each other, and didn't say a word to each other. Rick finally broke the silence. "I understand." He turned back and began to walk back to the camp, with Shane following behind. "But I can protect them; I showed you that. So no more of this idiotic behavior." He turned around to look at Shane again. "Understood?!"

"Yeah." Shane knew that Rick still felt ill will towards him, but he didn't press the matter for fear of making things worse. "Understood."  
They walked back to their camp in silence.

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**How did you like it? Good? Bad? I feel that my original draft was better, but I couldn't remember how it went; only that it sounded better. I finished this early as a Christmas gift to you all. Except for you. Remember to Read & Review!**


	4. The Truth is Out

**** **Sorry for the long wait; had some difficulty writing this chapter. Lot's of dialogue, needed to find the right words. The next chapter will surprise all of you, I'm sure. I can't wait to post that one.**

**Chapter Three: The Truth is Told**

Rick and Shane walked back their camp in silence, preparing themselves for what they were going to tell the group. The arrived at their camp, finding Daryll had returned with a couple of dead squirrels. Everyone looked at them when they arrived.

"We need to talk you all about something." Rick announced. "Something important."  
"What is it now?" Asked T-Dog. He was cleaning his gun, like a nervous child playing with his toys; he was trying to keep his mind off the farm, the home that they had all lost in a mere hour. "If it's more bad news, please, keep it to yourself."

"It's about Randall." Shane told them.

"Don't worry about him." Glenn said. "Daryll and found him in the woods before the Walkers came; one of them got him."  
"Wait, what?" Rick said.

"Yeah." Daryll said. "But I didn't see any bites on 'em, which was weird."

Rick looked at Shane with fear in his eyes. Shane wondered how Randall could have turned if he wasn't bitten; he had killed Randall himself, he knew he wasn't never bitten.

"We probably just didn't find the bite." Glenn said. "Not like we much time to inspect him."  
"He wasn't bit." Shane said, thinking of how Randall could have reanimated. He was fearing the only theory he could of.

"And how do you know that?" Asked Daryll. Everyone looked at him; the way he had said it seemed to imply he knew what had happened to Daryll.  
"Because I'm the one who killed him." Shane said. "I broke his neck. He was never bitten, never scratched." Shane looked at the group. "There wasn't even a Walker nearby."

"So you did kill 'em." Daryll said. "Thought so."  
Nobody shed a tear for Randall's death; they all knew he was a bad person, a threat to the group. They also knew that they would have done it eventually.

"Then how did he come back." Carl asked. "Dad, if he wasn't bitten then how did he come back?" Rick had a look on his face that alerted the others; there was something he wasn't telling them.

"Rick?" Carol asked. "Do you know something about this?"

Rick took a deep breath; he was hoping that Jenner was mistaken, but it was obvious now that he wasn't. Jenners' words echoed in his head, _'It's not the bite. It's us. We're all infected.'_ He feared it was the case when he and Shane killed those two Walkers in that town, but didn't want to face it.

"It's us." Rick told them. "We're all infected." Everyone looked at him with shock.

"What?" T-Dog asked, standing straight up. "What did you just say?"  
Everyone looked at Rick, wanting an explanation. "Jenner told me before we left the CDC; he whispered it to me."  
"Why didn't you tell us?" Carol asked. "Don't you think that's something we should all know?"  
"I didn't want to cause a panic, alright!" Rick told them. "I didn't even know if it was true or not. For all I knew he was wrong, or insane."

"We're really all infected Rick?" Shane asked. "You mean no matter how we die, we come back?"  
"Yes. If you don't destroy the brain, that's just what happens." The group sat in silence, processing the information they had all just received. No one wanted to come back as one of those things; they all thought that if they could just avoid the Walkers, then they would eventually outlive them. But now that hope was dashed away.

"There's something else." Shane said. He didn't want to confess to Otis' murder, but he knew that if he didn't do it now, then he probably never would.

"Can't you guys keep the bad news to yourself?" T-Dog asked, sitting back down, his words half joke, half serious. "Let me guess; the Walkers know how to use guns now, right?"

"No." Shane told him. "It's about what happened to Otis."

"Otis?" Maggie said. "What about him?"

"I-" Shane felt his voice crack; he still couldn't think of what he did without feeling sick to his stomach. Shane breathed a large breath, steeling himself for what he was about to say. "I killed Otis."  
Everyone looked at him silence, some with frightened looks, others with knowing looks. "What?!" Maggie nearly yelled, standing up. "What do you mean? You said he was killed by Walkers!"  
"I lied." Shane looked at her. "I shot him in the leg so the Walkers would be too busy with him to get to me."  
"What?" Carl began to cry. "Why would you do that Shane?" Tears fell down his cheeks as he spoke. He couldn't believe that Shane, the man who was like a second father to him, had killed someone, someone who had tried to help them.

"I didn't want to do it!" Shane said, his voice cracking once again. " I told him to go on ahead, I told him to go! But he didn't!" Shane began to cry; it was the first time he had shed tears for killing Otis, and he was happy that he could finally do so. He looked at Carl. "He wouldn't leave me! He said he could never forgive himself if he did! I wouldn't have done it, but Carl, you needed the supplies!"  
Carl buried his face in his mother's arms, unable to look at Shane. "Carl."  
"Don't talk to him!" Lori told Shane. She turned her attention to her son. "Don't cry baby." She consoled him, rubbing his head, unable to say anything to Shane.

"Shane did what he had to do." Rick defended him. "He did it to survive. I believe him when says he had no other choice."  
"No other choice?" Maggie asked. "Why not sacrifice yourself? You could've done that!" Glenn got to his feet and put his hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her down. "Did you think of that?"  
"That's enough!" Rick said. "We thought we should tell you, to clear the air. This matters over with. It's done."  
Rick sat down next to Lori and Carl, the latter of whom was still crying. Shane walked off to be alone. Maggie left the camp in anger, and was followed by her family and Glenn. Carol walked off in distress, with Daryll following her, making sure she was safe. T-Dog and The Grimes Family stayed at the camp site.

Carol walked away from the group to be alone; she wasn't feeling safe with Rick and Shane anymore. She wanted to leave, go somewhere else. "Carol." She heard someone say. "Wait up!" It was Daryll. He caught up to her, bow in his hands, a dead squirrel tied to his belt.

"We can't trust those two." Carol immediately told him. "I mean, look what they've done! Rick kept us in the dark about the infection. Shane murdered Otis, he killed Randall."  
"We can trust them." Daryll grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "They did those things to protect us. You know that."  
Carol didn't see it that way. The only person she fully trusted was Daryll, the man who took a bullet in the head, an arrow in the side, to find her daughter. She didn't want to say it aloud, for fear of being pushed away by the others, but she thought that Daryll would be a better leader than Rick or Shane. "Let's just leave." She said. "Me and you."  
"Are you kiddin' me?" He asked. "Carol, think of what you're saying; we can't survive by ourselves."  
"We can't survive with them!" She argued. "Not without losing our humanity."

"They've done right by me." Daryll told her. "Right by both of us. I know Shane ain't the best of guys, but he's better than most we'd meet out there."  
Carol looked at him, and relented. She didn't really want to leave, but she didn't want to stay. She just wanted to be with Daryll. If he wanted to stay, then she would too. Wherever he went, she would go as well. "Okay." She hugged him. "I'm sorry." She began to cry. Daryll led the crying, childless mother back to the camp.

Glenn followed Maggie with her father and sister; he wasn't exactly happy with what Rick and Shane told them, but he wasn't exactly upset. "Maggie, wait!" Glenn yelled. "We can't go too far off!" His words stopped her; she wasn't mad enough to get herself killed.

"What are we supposed to do?" She asked. Her father, sister, and boyfriend caught up to her. "You wanna stay with them? A liar and a murderer?"  
"Maggie, you have to calm down." Her father said. "We can't dwell on what they told us."  
"Rick knew that we were all infected. That we ARE INFECTED!" She yelled. "And Shane, he .. he .. he murdered Otis! You really want to trust those two?"  
"Yes, I do." Hershel said. "What happened with Otis is horrible, but you saw Shane back there; he was a wreck. Otis was a good man, Maggie, and I believe Shane when he says that Otis wouldn't leave him."

"So he kills him?" Beth said, finally speaking up. "He should've killed himself instead."  
"I'm not saying what he did was right." Hershel told his daughters. "But nothing he could have done would've been right. There was only wrong in that situation."  
"Maggie," Glenn said, "listen to your father. Shane may not be a saint, but he's no devil."  
"So what do we do?" Beth asked. She didn't like Shane to begin with, and knowing of his killing Otis wasn't winning any points for him.  
"We forgive." Hershel told them. "There's nothing else we can do."  
They all stood in silence, in the dark. Glenn broke the silence. "We should go back to the camp. Get some sleep." He looked to the far away glow of the fire; he hadn't realized how far they had gone. "C'mon." They all headed back in silence.

The Grimes Family sat at their camp, gathering the warmth from the fire. T-Dog sat across from them. "Is there anything else we should know?" He asked. He then looked around, remembering that he was the only one there. "Well, that I should know."  
"No." Rick told him. "Nothing else."

"You sure?" He asked again. "Maybe something about God coming to you in a dream? Anything?" He laughed. He wanted to lighten the mood, but he didn't think it was working.

"You forgive us?" Rick asked him. "Me? Shane?"

T-Dog looked at him. He didn't care about Randall's death; he was scum, and he knew it. He could tell. As for Otis; well, he understood what Shane did, and would've done the same thing in his position. "Yeah, you're forgiven. To be honest, I would've done the same thing in your positions."  
"Thank you." Rick said. He wondered how the others were handling the information; he wasn't gonna allow the group to split up, not after all they went through together.

"Dad?" Rick looked at his son. He had since stopped crying, though his cheeks were still red and wet. "Did Otis die because of me?"  
"What?" His mother asked. "No Carl. Why would you say that?"  
"Shane said he did it because I needed the supplies. If I didn't need them, then Otis wouldn't be dead."  
"That doesn't matter Carl." Rick told his son. "What happened happened. It can't be undone. It wasn't your fault."  
"Alright." Carl said. "I know it wasn't my fault, but I can't help but feel guilty."  
"That's a good thing little man." T-Dog told him. "Means you're a good person. If you didn't care at all, then you should be worried."  
Lori looked at T-Dog. "Thank you Theodore." She said, using his real name.

"No problem."

Shane walked around, pacing from one place to the next. Confessing to two murders was more stressful than he thought it would be. He wondered if the others could forgive his killing Otis. The way Daryll looked at him told him that the bow wielding hunter probably pitied him, and understood what he did. What he really worried about was Carl and The Greene Family; Carl looked up to him, and Otis was a family friend of Hershel's.

He was scared as well; what if the others thought he was too dangerous to be around? What if they killed him? He didn't mind dying, but he wasn't about to let himself die, at least not without a reason. And it's not like he could leave now; Lori was pregnant, and he didn't want to leave the baby. His baby.

Though Rick told him that it was his baby, Shane still believed that Lori was pregnant with his child, not Rick's. But he would worry about that later. Deciding enough time passed for the others to cool off, Shane walked back to the camp in a hurry.

Everyone had returned when Shane came back. "So, how are we?" He asked. Everyone looked at him, some with anger, some with pity.

"We're good." Rick said. "They understand what you did."  
"That's ... good." Shane said. He still felt like the odd man out, and for good reason. "So what now?"  
"We get some sleep." Rick told him. He then spoke to everyone. "Get some sleep; I'll keep watch." No one said anything, deciding to do what Rick said. They all lied down, all except for Rick and Shane. Shane sat next to Rick as he was checking his gun. They sat in silence.

"Thank you." Shane said, breaking the silence. "You don't know how good it feels to have everything off my chest."  
"I can't imagine what you went through." Rick said. "Killing is never easy, you and I both know that."  
"Yeah, we do."

"But only you know what it's like to kill a good man. I've killed bad people before. It's not easy. It's a difficult thing to do, one that gets easier the more you do it. But I can't imagine how hard it must feel to kill a good person. But I almost killed a good person just a few hours ago." He looked at Shane. "I almost felt what you felt."  
"I'm sorry." Shane wanted to make Rick stronger by killing him, but he didn't want him feel the pain of killing a good person. "I'm so sorry. I'm just glad you don't know what it feels like." He put his head in his hands and looked at the ground. "It's the worse thing I've ever felt in my entire life Rick. It's just .. sick."


	5. Los ancianos de los muertos

** Here's chapter four! I had a lot of fun writing this. Please Read & Review!**

* * *

**Chapter Four: Los ancianos de los muertos**

Rick and Shane drove in the lead car with Carl, Lori, and T-Dog. Shane drove with Rick sitting in the passengers seat. Rick held the radio in his right hand. They were looking for somewhere to stay for the day, an abandoned building, a group of cars, a camp site; somewhere they could get a good nights sleep. A week had passed since The Greene Family Farm had been taken over by the dead, and everyone wondered if they would ever find a place to call home again.

They rarely spoke since the night Rick and Shane told them everything. Shane avoided the glaring eyes of Maggie and Beth, the fearful ones of Carol. They all tried to think of a place to go, but nothing came to mind.

"There's a path," Shane said, pointing to a beaten path, his hands still on the wheel. The path looked like it hadn't seen any use in weeks. "We can try there."

"Take the turn," Rick told him. He brought the radio to his mouth. "We're turning here," he spoke into the radio. "May have found a place to stay. Stay alert."

Shane took the turn, followed by the others. He drove for a few minutes until he saw an abandoned house in front of them. He stopped about twenty feet away from the house. This had become a caution they would take whenever they found a new place; stop a few meters away and go in as a team to take out any Walkers they found.

Rick and Shane got out of their car. "T-Dog," Rick said, looking at him through the back window. "Stay here with Lori. We'll check the place out."

Rick and Shane looked behind them to see Daryll, his crossbow at the ready. "We ready?" he asked.

"One sec." Rick looked at the Carl, sitting next to his mother. "Carl; you're gonna come with us."

"What?" Lori said. "You can't be serious." She opened her door and got out of the car. Carl followed suit, as did T-Dog.

"He's gotta learn to fight the Walkers," Rick told her. "Better sooner than later." Rick looked at Carl. "You think you can do this?"

"Yeah," Carl told him, his voice full of confidence; ever since he had killed those Walkers at the farm he had become much more confident in his abilites. "I can do this!"

"Good." Rick looked at Lori. "He'll be fine. I promise."

"_We_ promise," Shane added. "I won't let anything happen to him."

Lori looked scared and uncertain, but relented. She wanted her son to be strong, someone who could survive on their own. "Alright. You have to stay with him though."

"I will," Rick told her. "Come on." Rick lead Shane, Daryll, and Carl to the house.

* * *

The four of them walked in the house after checking their guns. "I'll go with Daryll to the top floor," Rick told them. "Shane, Carl; you clear out the first level."  
"Got it, Dad," Carl said.

"Remember," Daryll told them, "use your knives to kill silently. We don't need to attract any more than there probably are." Rick and Daryll headed upstairs, leaving Shane and Carl to clear the bottom level.

Shane walked in front of Carl, to make sure nothing would happen to him. "Keep your guard up at all times," Shane whispered to Carl. "Don't use your gun unless you have to."

Carl nodded. He had his gun ready at his side, holding a wooden baseball bat with a firm grip. He was actually hoping to find some Walkers, so he could practice his swing. They walked cautiously, opening every door quickly and quietly. Shane heard movement from upstairs, and heard something drop. He disregarded it, concentrating on the matter at hand. They soon checked the whole first floor and found no Walkers whatsoever.

"Huh." Shane was surprised they didn't find any Walkers. "Nothing. Must be our lucky day."

"Yeah," Carl laughed, smiling. "Let's go check on Dad and Daryll."

"Good idea." Shane walked up the steps, followed by Carl. Halfway up, they saw Rick and Daryll standing over a dead body.

"Hey," Shane said, getting them to turn their heads to him. "What happened?"

"Nothin'," Daryll told him. "This poor bastard was in that room." Daryll jerked his thumb at the open door beside them. "Looks like he's been dead a few weeks."

"How'd he die?" Carl asked.

"Blew his brains all over the wall." Carl walked to check the room, and indeed saw blood and chunks on the wall. "Cool."

"Get the others," Rick told Shane. "Tell them it's safe to come in."

"On it." Shane hurried down the stair and out the door. He saw everyone standing by the lead car. "Hey!" he yelled. "It's safe to come in!"  
The others hurried to the house, and went in one by one.

* * *

Everyone had gathered in the living room while Rick, Shane, and Carl looked around for food and supplies. Daryll had gone off hunting, hoping to catch some squirrel, or maybe even a deer.

Rick searched upstairs while Shane and Carl searched the first level. Shane looked around the kitchen, looking for anything edible. Aside from maggots, flies, and a moldy sandwich, there wasn't much to find. They needed to stock up on food for the coming winter, and anything would've been good now. "Not a goddamn thing!" Shane said, frustrated. "Hope Carl and Rick have better luck than I do."

Shane went to the living room and sat beside Lori. "Coudn't find anything," he told the group. "Unless y'all like maggots."

"No thanks," Lori said. "I don't think I could stomach that."

"Me either," Carol said.

Shane heard Rick coming down the stairs, and looked to see that he had returned empty handed as well. "Nothing," Rick said. "Absolutely nothing."

"Maybe Carl found something," Shane said.

"I did!" Everyone turned to see a smiling Carl, holding a sealed bag of large marshmallows. "All we need now is chocolate and some graham crackers!"

"Nice." Shane stood and took the bag from Carl. He wasn't a big fan of marshmallows, but it was better than most of the stuff they had eaten recently. He tossed the bag to Rick.

"It's hardly a meal." Rick looked at the bag. A door opened, and Daryll walked in.

"Couldn't find a damn thing." Daryll sat down between T-Dog and Carol, clearly frustrated. "All I found were some Walkers."

"Don't worry about it," Rick told him. "We got enough food for the next month. Besides, what we need is canned goods, things that are preserved."

"We can make maggot soup for today," Shane joked. "Found a whole bunch in the kitchen."

"I'm not that desperate," Rick laughed. "At least not yet."

They sat in silence, each passing the bag of marshmallows to the next. They weren't eating them, just passing them around; they didn't know how to equally divide them, and no one wanted to be greedy.

Glenn had the bag when he got sick of the silence. "So what're you hoping the the baby'll be?" he asked.

Lori looked at him and smiled. "I don't know. Either would be nice."

"I hope it's a girl," Shane said. "I always ... I always liked baby girls better." Shane spoke with a sad undertone. Shane had patched things up with Rick, but he was afraid that if he brought it up, then everything would be undone. He believed that Lori's baby was his, and wanted to be the one the child called 'Daddy'.

Rick looked at him with a glare; he knew what he was thinking, and he didn't like it. He didn't hate him for it, he just didn't like it. "Whatever it is, it'll be perfect. Boy or girl."

"I just wish we had another physician with us," Hershel said. "I could use a someone who has medical training."

"Not gonna find many doctors out there," T-Dog said. "God knows if there's any left."

"Nurses either," Shane added.

"A nurse," Glenn said. He remembered something. "Rick, we know a nurse!"

"We do?" Shane asked. "Where exactly is she?"

"Glenn," Rick said, "what are you talking about?"

"Back in Atlanta! Remember? That group in the nursing home!"

"That's right," Daryll added. "The one I shot in the ass, right?"

"Whoa, whoa," Shane said. "What are you talking about? What group? What nursing home?"

"The day we went to get Merle, we encountered another group. They were good people, looking after the sick and the old. They were lead by a man named Guillermo. One of them was a nurse."

"How come you never told us this?" Lori asked. "That there was another group?"

"Honestly?" Rick said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "It completely skipped my mind."

"The Walkers attacking the camp kinda made me forget too," Daryll told him. "We all forgot."

The group discussed The Vatos Gang, and what they should do.

"You said they had sick and old people, right?" Shane asked. "Chances are those people are dead."

"And if they died, then they became Walkers," T-Dog finished. "Chances are the place was overtaken. Like the farm."

They sat in silence, contemplating what to do. "They have some of our guns," Glenn said. "Remember? We gave them some."

"Wait," Shane interrupted, "you gave them some of our guns?"

"They were good people," Rick said. "They needed protection, so I gave them some."

"Alright." Shane looked at the group. "Doesn't matter either way. I say we go."

Rick looked at Shane with disbelief. "Did you just say let's go?"

"Yeah. Why not? If their alive, then they can join us. If not, then we can take back the guns."

"It's a win-win situation," Daryll said. "We get something out of it either way. We can also pick up some food and other supplies while we're there."

"I'll go with you," Hershel told them. "I can get the proper medical supplies for when Lori goes into labor."

"Then it's settled." Rick took out his gun and checked the barrel. "Some of us'll go in a few days. Hopefully they're okay."

Two days later, Shane and Rick were discussing an important decision. They stood outside of the house they had taken refuge in before; amazingly, it had been a comfortable two days. "We should take him!" Rick argued. "He's gotta learn." They were debating over whether or not Carl should come with them to Atlanta; Rick believed he needed to learn how to better deal with Walkers, while Shane believed that taking him to Atlanta was too dangerous.

"I know he does," Shane told him. "But Atlanta's too heavily infested with Walkers; he takes every shot he can, doesn't conserve ammo!"

"We gotta take him." Rick looked around for Lori; he didn't want Lori around to side with Shane, and they both knew she would. "He's gotta learn how to deal with Walkers."

Shane stood there, silent. Carl didn't conserve ammo, he didn't use it sparingly; he ran out of ammo back on the farm, and it nearly cost him his father's life.

Though he wanted to protect Carl, he knew that Rick was right; he would have to deal with Walkers in the future, and it would be better if he learned sooner rather than later.

But in the end, Shane relented. Carl needed to learn how to conserve his ammo, only kill Walkers when necessary. "All right," Shane said. "We gotta teach him how to conserve his ammo, how to deal with Walkers properly, and I guess taking him to Atlanta might help with that."

"Good." Rick walked into the house, leaving Shane outside. He walked to his car and stood there, waiting. They had discussed who would be going and who would be staying; Rick and Shane were to go, as were Daryll, Hershel, Glenn, and Carl. Daryll would be useful with his silent bow, Hershel would know what kind of medications to take, and Glenn knew his way around the ruined city.

"I am not looking foward to this," Shane said to himself.

"You and me both!" Shane turned to Daryll, his crossbow in hand.

"Don't you ever put that thing down?" Shane asked jokingly.

"Never." Daryll went to the trunk and opened it. "We takin' Carl or not?"

"Yeah, we are." Shane looked at Daryll; he sided with Rick on Carl's attendance, but he expected nothing less. "He's gotta learn how to conserve ammo."

"Yeah, that is a problem," Daryll said. "Not like you can take the bullets out, not like my beauty here." He kissed his crossbow. "Silent, quick, and I can take the bolts back. And I can make new ones."

"You don't have to brag." Shane opened the front door and got in the drivers seat. He wanted to get this thing over with.

Rick, Hershel, and Carl came walking out of the house; Carl looked as though he would pop a gasket he was so excited. "Rick! Let's get a move on!" They piled into the two cars and drove off.

The six of them arrived at Atlanta in a matter of hours. "So where is this place?" Shane asked. "I wanna get out of this place as soon as we can."

"It's about twenty minutes away," Glenn said. "Maybe thirty."

"I hope they're okay," Rick said. "Their place was pretty well fortified, and they had a lot of strong men. But they were looking after the old and the sick."

"So those people may have died of natural causes." Hershel hoped the group were okay; a group of people looking after the old and sick were saintly in his book. "Let's just hope that nurse of their's took good care of them."

They walked in silence as they neared the nursing home. They would avoid killing Walkers whenever they could, though Carl would ask if he could shoot just one. "Does anyone remember their names?" Daryll asked. "It'd be kind of awkward if we showed up without knowing their names."

"Yeah," Glenn told him. "There was Guillermo."

"The leader," Rick added.

"Miguel." Glenn closed his eyes, trying to remember the names of the gang.

"The one we had captured."

"And the one I shot in the ass with an arrow," Daryll added. "Felipe."

"You shot someone in the ass?" Shane asked, laughing. "That's funny."

"That is funny," Carl agreed.

The six of them arrived at the entrance of the nursing home, finding it open. "That's not good," Rick said. They headed inside, getting their weapons ready.

As they walked, they saw the bodies of both elderly and young people. They all had head wounds, either from a gun, a knife, or a blunt object. "They haven't been dead too long," Daryll said, alertness in his voice. "This must've only been a few days ago. A week at most."

"Let's see if we can find anyone alive," Rick told them. "Stick together. Carl." He looked at his son. "Don't fire your weapon unless we tell you otherwise. "Got it?"

"Got it Dad!" Carl said.

They walked cautiously, taking deliberate steps. They looked for fresh bodies, listened for voices, steps, gun shots, anything that could mean life. Or death.

Carl walked in the middle, between everyone else. He was told by his father to stay in the center, so he wouldn't be the first to get grabbed if a Walker attacked. "You know where they kept their guns?" Shane asked Rick. "Or are we just going around aimlessly?"

"They probably kept them in a storage closet," Daryll guessed. "Where else would they keep 'em?"

"No idea," Rick said.

They continued their trek, looking for any signs of life. Glenn tripped over something, and they looked down to see a mutilated body. "Oh God." Glenn choked back vomiting.

"This was recent." Shane bent down to get a closer look. "Blood's not dry yet."

"We gotta hurry." Rick quickly went ahead. "If there's anyone left alive, they won't be for long."  
They followed Rick, fearing that there trip was in vain.

Rick stopped the group when he heard a loud rustling noise. "You guy's hear that?" Rick asked.

"Yeah." Carl spoke a little to loud for Rick's liking. "What is that Dad?"

"Trouble,"Daryll answered. He walked ahead of the others. "I'll check it out." Daryll walked quickly toward the source of the noise. He turned at a corner and stopped. He looked amused. He turned to the others, and walked back, silently and slowly. "You won't believe what's over there!" he whispered, failing to hold back a laugh. "There's an assload of Walkers clawing at the door at the end of the hall!" He went back to the wall, keeping an eye on the Walkers.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Shane said.

"We can sneak past them," Carl said. "It'll be easy."

"It's not that simple," Hershel told him. "What are they trying to get at?"

"People," Rick answered. "Considering the Walkers are still clawing at the door, it's safe to say that someone is alive in there."

"How do help them?"Glenn asked. "There's too many for us to kill. And we can't lead them away, not without one of us dying."

They stood there, trying to think of what they could do. Shane spoke first. "We should leave them." The others looked at him. "We can't save them, it'd be suicide to even try."

"He maybe right," Hershel said sadly. "Unless you have any idea's Rick, we have to leave them."

Rick's eyes swayed left and right, trying to think of a way to get in that room. He looked up, trying to think, when he saw an air duct. "There." He pointed at the air duct. "One of us can go in and get into that room."

"I'll go," Carl volunteered. "I can fit in there."

"So can I," Glenn said. "We'll get to the room then lead whoever's in there back here."

"You sure you can do this Carl?" Rick asked his son.

"Yeah." Carl took off his hat, the one his father had given him, and handed it to him. "Hold on to this. I don't wanna lose it." Carl and Glenn went to the air duct. Glenn unscrewed the duct and took off the grate.

"I'll boost you up." Glenn cupped his hands together, and boosted Carl into the vent.

"Okay, I'm coming up." Glenn hopped up and got in the vent as well. "We'll be back soon."

The others waited for Glenn and Carl, killing any Walker that decided to venture away from the door. When a loud noise sounded from the vents, they jumped. "What was that?" Shane asked, though he already knew what it was.

"A gun shot," Rick said. "We-"

He was cut off by Daryll, who yelled, "They're comin'!" He aimed his crossbow at the hall of Walkers, and fired a bolt. "RUN!"

"The vents!" Rick ordered, pointing at the vents. "Get in!"

Rick hopped in as fast as he could, followed by Daryll. "Come on!" Daryll told the others. "Hurry!"

Shane went to the vent, but stopped when he saw a Walker behind Hershel. He shot the Walker with his pistol, killing it. Realizing they wouldn't be able to get in the vents, Shane ran away. "Come on!" he yelled to Hershel. They ran as fast as the could.

* * *

Shane and Hershel ran as fast as they could. Shane noticed Hershel was running out of breath, and immediately looked for a room to take Hershel into. He shut the door. Seeing a plank of wood, obviously used as a barricade, he placed it on the door. "This should hold 'em." Shane went to check on Hershel, seeing that he was breathing heavily. "You okay?" Shane didn't realize that he was breathing heavily as well.

"I'm fine." Hershel sat down. "But how do we get out of here?" He looked over the room; an elderly woman lay there, dead, a bullet hole in her forehead.

"The vents," Shane replied. He went to find a vent, but saw none. "Where's the god damn vent?!"

"There is none." Hershel looked around from his seat. He saw no vents, no way to escape. "We're trapped."

"No." Shane punched the wall. "We are not going to die here!"

"Shane." Hershel stood and walked to Shane. "We're trapped."

The two of them sat in silence, Hershel thinking of how he could comfort Shane, and Shane thinking of a way to escape. Hershel decided to speak up. "Shane."

He stood and walked next to him. "There's something I have to tell you."

"What is that?" Shane asked sardonically. "The Birds and the Bees?"

"No." Hershel knelt down, looking him in the eyes. "I knew."

"Knew what?"

"About Otis. I knew you killed him." Shane looked at him, shock on his face.

"What?"

"I could see the guilt on your face when you came back. I knew you had done something that made you sick, that made you want to die."

"You knew?" Shane was dumbfounded. Why did Hershel not confront him? Why did he allow him to stay on his farm? "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I knew you were a good person," he replied. "That you still _are_ a good person."

Shane, feeling renewed vigor, shot up out of his seat. "We are _not_ dying here," he said. "We're getting out."

"Shane-"

"NO!" Shane said forcefully. "I'll find us a way out of here. I promise." Shane went around the room, opening every door, checking every wall; maybe one of the walls was weak enough for them to break through it. "There's gotta be something-" Shane stopped talking when he opened a closet door. He saw an army bag, and he went to open it. "I think we found the armory!" he said. "I can't believe we didn't look in the closets!"

"How many guns are there?" Hershel asked. Shane opened the bag, and was depressed to see only a handgun and a few shotgun shells.

"None we can use," Shane said. He rifled through the bag some more, looking for anything he could use. He stopped when he saw a small green object. He smiled. "But we can use this!" Shane picked up the object, turned around, and showed it to Hershel.

"Is that a grenade?" Hershel asked, surprised.

"Yeah." Shane hurried to the door; he could here the Walkers clawing at the door. "We just throw this outside and BOOM! No more Walkers." Shane pulled the pin and held the release lever down. "Get in the closet; I'll get in after I toss the grenade."

Hershel went to the closet, and Shane turned to face the door. He took off the barricade and opened the door as fast as he could, dropping the grenade just outside of it. He ran for the closet, and got in a second before the grenade went off. He inspected the door, seeing it was blown completely off. He saw dead Walkers strewn all about the floor.

"Let's go," Shane told Hershel. They left the room that was once a death trap, Shane holding his pistol and Hershel holding the army bag.

Shane and Hershel hurried through the halls of the ruined nursing home. They were backtracking to the room where they saw the Walkers, hoping the others were in there. They reached the hallway, seeing a lone Walker walking around. Shane approached the Walker and stabbed it in the head. Hershel cautiously opened the door, only to find a gun pointed at his face.

"Hershel?" Shane looked to see Rick. "You're alive."

"Yeah." Hershel put his hands on the gun, lowering it.

"Why're you still here?" Shane asked him. He pushed Hershel into the room and closed the door.

"We were waiting for you." Shane looked to see Daryll. "We figured you'd come to this room, so we stayed here."

"We were gonna leave in an hour." Shane then saw a Mexican man with facial hair tending to an old black man. He turned his head toward the old man. "Keep breathing. My name's Felipe."

Shane also a young man, clean shaven, maybe nineteen, twenty, wearing a white tank top next to another man. The man next to him seemed to exude an aura of confidence. The confident man looked at Shane. "I'm Guillermo." He pointed to the teen. "This is Miguel, Felipe's cousin."

"Nice to meet you." Shane turned to face Rick. "What was that gun shot from earlier?" Shane asked. "What-"

"We can't talk about that now," Rick interrupted him. "We have to get out of here. It's only these four left. Everyone else is dead."

"What about the supplies?" Glenn asked. "Should we get them?"

"We can't!" Felipe yelled. "We need to get Mr. Gilbert out of here! He's suffering another asthma attack!"

"Don't worry," Rick told him. "We'll get him out of here." Rick looked at a pile of guns. "We'll have to leave some here."

"No, we won't," Hershel told him. He handed Rick the army bag. "We found this in one of the rooms; we can pack them in here."

"That great!" Carl said. "Let's go!"

Rick and Guillermo packed the guns into the bag as quickly as they could. Once they were packed, the group of ten left the room.

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**Hello! Did you like it. My longest chapter yet! I feel it came out very great. The translation for the chapter title is 'Elders of the Dead' (I think.). Please Read & Review!**


	6. S'more the Merrier

** I had fun writing this one too. Can't wait to post chapter six! Please Read & Review!**

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**Chapter Five: S'more the Merrier**

Shane, Rick, Guillermo, and Daryll lead the others to the car. Miguel and Felipe helped Mr. Gilbert walk, the elderly man too weak to keep up on his own. Glenn stayed with Carl and Hershel, laughing about something.

"So what happened?" Shane asked. "What was with the gun shot?"

"There was a Walker in the vent," Rick replied. "Carl shot it."

"That was Carmen Lopez," Guillermo said. "She was bit. She was going to lead the Walkers away from the door before she died. But she was too scared. I don't blame her; none of us wanted her to do it."

"That would've been a bad way to go," Daryll commented. "Eaten alive by Walkers. No one deserves that."

"I'm glad she didn't do it." Guillermo looked up at the sky. It was getting dark. "She was only seventeen."

They walked out of Atlanta, taking the same route they had taken before. They passed a few Walkers, but managed to avoid them. They reached the cars and got in. One of the cars didn't start.

"What the hell." Shane got out of the car and went to the hood. He opened it. Felipe checked the engine.

"This isn't gonna work." Felipe inspected the engine. "This engine is a nothing but a paperweight now."

"Then we'll make two trips," Guillermo said. He pointed at Felipe. "Felipe, you take the old folks and the kid to their place. We'll stay here. Come back when you drop 'em off."

"I can stay!" Carl argued. He turned to his Dad and Shane. "I can practice my shooting!"

"He's right Rick," Shane said. "We didn't get a chance to teach him how to deal with Walkers properly."

"You're right." Rick took out his gun. "Felipe, you, Guillermo, Miguel, and Daryll drive Mr. Gilbert and Hershel to our place. The rest of us will stay here for the night. Meet us here in the morning."

"I'll stay here too," Guillermo told him. "Glenn can go back. I know a few places we can scavenge supplies from."

"Alright." Rick turned to Daryll. "Daryll, get them back to the house, keep everyone safe."

"Got it." Daryll went to the car and hopped in the driver's seat. "I'll come back in the morning to pick you up." He started the car. Felipe and Hershel helped Mr. Gilbert into the back, and Hershel sat next to him. Felipe went to Shane and Rick.

"I'll stay too," Felipe told them. "We gotta find medicine for Mr. Gilbert."

"No, you stay with him," Guillermo told him. "He needs you. Tell us what we need to get it."

"Alright." Felipe handed him some empty pill bottles. "He needs these."

"Don't worry," Rick said, "we'll get the meds. You just take care of him until then." Felipe nodded, and went back to the car. He held Mr. Gilbert's asthma inhaler in his hand, just in case he went into another attack.

Shane, Rick, Guillermo, and Carl watched the car leave. When it was out of sight, they turned to walk off. Guillermo lead the way. "There's a pharmacy a few blocks from the nursing home." He looked back at the others. "We were going to make a supply run week ago when everything went to shit."

"What happened anyway?" Carl asked him.

"The old folk started dying, one by one," Guillermo told him. "We didn't know that you came back no matter what. We didn't know what to do; half of my gang wanted to kill the old folk, or throw them to the Walkers. I told them we wouldn't do that."

"And you had a riot," Rick said. He didn't know for sure, but it was the only thing he could think of that would make Guillermo's group fall like that. "Fights broke out? People started trying to kill the old and sick?"

"Exactly right." Guillermo spit on the ground. "I tried to keep the peace, but a shot was fired. After that, all hell broke loose. They all started shooting each other. Some tried escaping into the city, but they just let the dead inside. The others and me, we just ran. We planned to retake the place, but it was infested in less than a day."

"How long were you locked up for?" Shane asked.

"I don't know." Guillermo had a depressed look in his eyes. Shane felt bad for him; everything he had worked so hard to defend fell, all because people were scared. "A few days probably. We went to the armory, armed ourselves. Felipe's grandmother was bit, begged him to end it. He did."

"It's a shame," Rick said. He put a hand on Guillermo's shoulder. "You had good people Guillermo. Most people would have left those people to die, but you and your men, you kept them safe."

"Anyone willing to do that is okay in book," Shane told him.

"How did you find them anyway?" Carl asked Guillermo. "Were you a doctor or something?"

"No." Guillermo looked at Carl. "I was the custodian." He then pointed at a building. "Over there's a place we can stay. We set up a few a safe houses, just in case we couldn't get back to the nursing home when we scavenging."

"That's smart idea," Rick complimented. "Really smart."

They headed for the safe house, Guillermo leading the way.

When they saw the safe house, they got more than they bargained for. The place was ruined and destroyed, all except for one room. The one room was furnished with a couch, a cooler full of canned goods and drinks, and even some guns and ammunition. They were also surprised to see a bathroom.

"This place is awesome!" Carl said. It had been a while since he had seen a place so well made. He saw a bookshelf next to the bathroom door, and saw a book that he had once owned. He ran to the bookshelf and rifled through it. "You have all the 'Harry Potter' books! I still haven't read the last two!"

"Yeah," Guillermo said, "we set this place up so you could stay here for days and not have to leave. Seemed like a good idea."

"We can take the cooler with us when we leave tomorrow," Rick said. He looked at Shane. "Shane, you take Carl and look for some food and gas. I'll go with Guillermo took look for medicine."

"Got it." Shane headed for the door. "Come on Carl. We should hurry."

"Coming!" Carl ran for the door.

Shane and Carl crouched low, walking past Walkers. Shane didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention, though Carl kept asking if he could kill some Walkers. They had searched several cars, but none of them had gas, not one drop. "Looks like Guillermo wasn't kidding about taking every drop of gas."

"What do we do?" Carl asked. "Do we look for the food?"

"Yeah. Better than looking for gas that doesn't exist."

The two of them hurried to an old convenience store that they spotted; they didn't know if there would be any food to be found, but it was better than doing nothing. They entered the store, and saw a few Walkers inside. Carl lifted his gun to shoot one, but Shane stopped him. "Don't be so rash," Shane whispered.

"Do that and we'll have ten times more to deal with."

"Sorry." Carl lowered his gun. "How do we kill them then?"

"We use this." Shane unsheathed his knife. "You wanna use these as much as possible. It saves ammo and keeps everything nice and quiet."

"I can't reach them with my knife," Carl said. "How am I supposed to kill them?"

"Umm." Shane didn't think about that. He looked around for something that Carl could use as a weapon. He spotted a dead body with one hand leaning on the wall; it was a bloody bat next to it."We'll get that," he said, pointing to the bat. "Stay here."

Shane walked to the bat, stabbing a Walker that was next to the body in the back of the head. He retrieved the bat and went back to Carl. He handed the bat to Carl.

"On three we'll kill them," Shane told Carl. "Remember, be quick. Don't hit them once, hit them several times. Until they're dead. Got it?"

"Got it." Carl held the bat in his hands. Shane took the Walkers on the left, while Carl took the Walkers on the right. Shane quickly dispatched his Walkers, then looked to Carl. Carl had one Walker on the ground, hitting it repeatedly with his bat. Another Walker came up behind him. Carl turned around and smashed the bat into the second Walker's head. The Walker fell to the ground, dead.

Shane saw the Walker on the ground reach for Carl. "Carl!" he told him. "It's still alive!"

"Huh?" Carl looked at the Walker on the ground, then brought his bat down on it's skull again. "There."

"Good job." Shane surveyed the store. "See if you can find any food and water. Don't leave anything unturned."

"Got it." The two of the searched the store for food. Shane found canned foods; tuna fish, raviolis, beefaroni, and other food that the group would certainly like.

Shane saw Carl reaching underneath an oversturned shelf and ran to help. He picked up the shelf, allowing Carl to reach what he was grabbing at. Shane looked down to see Carl holding a backpack with a giant 'L' on it's front; it seemed full. "Nice find."

"I wonder what's in it." Carl unzipped the bag. Inside he found a variety of sugary sweets. "Whoa! It's full of candy!"

"Who in there right mind would scavenge nothing but candy?" Shane asked. "Seems kinda stupid."

"Who cares!" Carl said. "Food is food!"

Shane took the pack from Carl and set it on the store counter. He put his findings in the pack. They searched the store for a while longer, but found nothing else. They left the store and headed back to the safe house.

When they arrived at the house, they found that Rick and Guillermo hadn't arrived yet. Shane sat on the couch, deciding to get some sleep. He fell asleep to the sight of Carl reading a book.

Shane woke up to Rick shaking him. "Come on," he said, "wake up."

"Rick?" Shane slowly opened his eyes. "When did you get back?"

"Last night," he said. "You've been asleep this whole time."

"I have?" Shane looked to the boarded up window to find sunlight seeping through the cracks. "Sorry."

"Forget about it." Shane saw Guillermo putting the backpack they had found on his back. "The others should be here to pick us up soon. We gotta go."

Shane stood up. "Alright." Shane stretched. "Just let me go to the bathroom." Shane went to the bathroom and closed the door. He did his business then rejoined the others. He looked at the bookshelf. "Let's take some of these." He took some of the books and put them in the cooler.

"Can we go now?" Guillermo asked. "I'd like to leave this place."

"Yeah, let's go." The four of them headed for where they left the car.

The four of them waited for Daryll to pick them up, talking about random things. Shane then wondered if Rick and Guillermo had retrieved the medicine.  
"Did you guys get the medication for the old guy?" Shane asked.

"His name's Mr. Gilbert," Guillermo told him. "And yes, we did."

"We also got some antibiotics and pain killers," Rick said. "The place was pretty well stocked."

They waited in silence until they saw a car pulling up. They noticed it was T-Dog, not Daryll, who was driving. He got out of the car. "Hurry up!" He seemed to be in a hurry. "Felipe said that he needs those meds as soon as possible!"

They piled into the car as quickly as they could.

The five of them arrived at the house in time to see Felipe and Hershel nursing Mr. Gilbert. Felipe saw them enter, and yelled, "Hurry up and give me the meds! NOW!"

Guillermo fished the meds out of the pack and handed them to Felipe. Felipe gave the pills to Mr. Gilbert. They waited for Mr. Gilbert to calm. Hershel monitored his breathing. "He should be fine," Hershel said. "Just let him rest and relax for now."

Mr. Gilbert soon fell asleep, and the others went to show the group their findings. Felipe stayed next to Mr. Gilbert, unwilling to leave his patient.

"We found a lot of stuff," Rick told them. "Enough food and water to last us a few weeks. With what we had already, that'll give us about two months supply of food."

"And the meds'll be useful in case someone gets hurt," Miguel said.

Carl was placing the food and supplies on the table, showing everyone what they had collected. Most of the food was sweets, but what caught Carl's attention was the graham crackers and chocolate bars. "Hey, look!" he said, picking up the two items. "With the marshmallows we can make s'mores'!"

"Hey, yeah," Beth grabbed the marshmallows, which were still unopened. "We can make a campfire and make them tonight!"

"A celebration!" Hershel said. "To celebrate our coming together."

"Sounds good to me," Daryll said. "I'll get the wood for the fire." Daryll left the house to retrieve firewood.

The group sat outside, eating delicious, messy s'mores. Everyone was there. They celebrated for two groups coming together, old friends being saved, and for a hopeful future. With four new friends in their group, Shane felt that they could survive anything that came their way. He just feared getting cavities from the multitude of sweets they had retrieved.

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**How did you like it? I like the title of this chapter. It wasn't intentional, the use of the marshmallows in the last chapter, it just seemed to fall into place. Hope you like it! Please Read & Review!**


	7. Prison Break (In)

**Chapter Six: Prison Break (In)**

Shane and Carl looked at the house they were about to storm into. They were running low on food, and they were getting desperate. Shane waited for Rick and Daryl to enter the house first; that was the plan, to go in quietly and kill all the Walkers inside. Daryl's crossbow was silent, and Rick always took the lead. Shane and Rick made it a point to get closer to Daryl; hif anything were to happen to them, they would want Daryl to take the lead.

Shane saw the two of them enter. He saw Rick stab a Walker, then watched as the two of them went up the stairs. Shane then lead Carl to the house; Carl had become much more disciplined with his guns, conserving his ammo and killing Walkers only when necessary. Shane held his large hunting knife in his hand, and went inside. He went left, while Carl went straight. T-Dog and Miguel were to come in next and stand by the door, in order to prevent any Walkers from surprising anyone. Shane saw a Walker on the floor. It's legs were mangled; it looked like whoever it was was severely beaten to death. Shane felt bad for whoever it was. He stabbed it in the head. He took his knife out, then went to look around more.

Shane heard the familiar sound of a silenced gunshot. Carl had killed a Walker. While everyone, including his mother, knew he could take care of Walkers by himself, they also knew he couldn't take them on with a knife or a bat. They had found a silenced pistol a few months back, and decided to give it to Carl. Shane looked around for more Walkers, but found none.

Shane heard Daryl's crossbow bolt hitting wood. He went to the front door to signal the others to come in. He saw Daryl coming down the stairs with a dead owl, tearing out the feathers as he came. He was glad Daryl was with them; having a hunter like him was just plain great. Shane signaled for T-Dog and Miguel to get the others.

The others came into the house one by one. Hershel had grown a rather large beard, which seemed to fit him well. Everyone else largely remained the same. All except for Lori. Shane saw Felipe helping her in, her stomach bulging out of her shirt. Lori was nine months pregnant, and she was close to giving birth; they already had a few scares, and they didn't want any more.

Shane knew that the baby was his, and not Rick's. He was afraid he might break the group up if he fought Rick over the baby, and he didn't want that. He had decided something; he would let Rick be the father of the baby, regardless of his feelings. Rick knew how to be a father, Shane didn't. Not only that, but he knew if he said anything it would risk the babies life, and he wouldn't let that happen. It depressed Shane that he wouldn't be a father to his baby, but it was a future he would accept.

Everyone sat in the living room while Carl, Rick, and Guillermo rummaged through the house for food. Rick and Guillermo came back with nothing. Carl came running in with two cans. He began to open them using a can opener. Shane noticed it was dog food. Half way through opening it, Rick grabbed the can. He looked at it in disgust, then threw it to the wall. He wanted to feed his family, but he didn't want to feed them dog food.

They all sat there when T-Dog whistled at them. He gestured his head to the outside. Shane stood up to look out the window. He was hoping there wasn't many Walkers, so they could stay the night. He looked out the window and saw at least a dozen Walkers shambling toward the house. No doubt more would be coming. Shane grabbed a bag, and gestured for everyone to leave.

They all got up and exited the house through the back. They went back to their cars, and drove off in search of somewhere to stay.

Shane and Rick walked around a hill, watching out for any Walkers or other threats. "We've gotta find a place to stay," Rick said. "We can't be on the road forever. Especially with the baby due any day now."

"Tell me when you find a place, I set everything up," Shane replied humorously. "I'll pay the rent."

"Very funny," Rick laughed. Rick was happy he still had Shane with him; he was his best friend, someone he could always count on, and if he killed him, he would have been afraid he'd become far more merciless.

They walked for a while, then went up another hill. Shane looked to the left, Rick to the right. Shane saw nothing, just woods and forest. He then felt a strong grip on his shoulder, and looked at Rick. He seemed excited. "What?" Shane asked.

"Look," Rick said, pointing to something. Shane followed his gaze, and saw a large complex. It was surrounded by fences.

"Is that a prison?" Shane asked.

Shane and Rick hurried back to their camp to tell the others about their find. Shane thought of the possibilities this presented; prison's were built to be a fortress, they were well stocked, they were made of cement and metal. This place could be a gold mine!  
They got to their camp and stood in front of everyone. "We found something," Shane said. "Something big." He couldn't help but smile.

"What'd you find?" Guillermo asked.

"A prison," Rick told them. "We can clear it out tomorrow, take everything in there."

"Rick," Lori said, "we can't clear out an entire prison. It's impossible."

"We don't have to," Rick said. "Prisons were seperated into cell blocks, and each one has an iron door to seperate them."

"They also had medical wings," Felipe added. "There should be a lot of ." He put his head down; he remembered Mr. Gilbert, the old man he'd been taking care of. The old man knew he was a hinderance to the group, that all he did was use up there food and medicine. He asked Felipe to end it for him, to prevent his coming back; Felipe did it. He was in a depression for a while after that; he had to shoot his own grandmother and his patient, the man who was like a grandfather to him and his cousin, the man who he took an oath to help. He still had nightmares over it.

"This place could be a gold mine," Rick stressed. "Food, medicine, shelter, gun; everything we need. It's a place we could call home."

"If it's what you think it's what we should do Rick," Hershel said, "then I say we do it."

Everyone else agreed. "It's settled then," Shane said. "Tomorrow, we make a home for ourselves."

Shane, Rick, Carl, Daryl, T-Dog stood at the gate to the courtyard. It was decided that they would go into the courtyard and kill the Walkers deeper in, while Glenn, Miguel, Felipe, and Beth stood in the gates between the courtyard and the outside; they were to get Walkers attention and stab them in the head so they could conserve ammo. Carol, Lori, Guillermo, Maggie, and Hershel stood on the guard towers to gun Walkers from a distance.

Shane opened the gate, and the five of them ran in. T-Dog stayed close to Daryl, while Shane stayed close to Rick and Carl. The plan was for Rick to go the gate that blocked the prison building from the courtyard and lock it shut with a chain, so they could at least have the courtyard. Shane shot the Walkers that were in his path, focusing all of his attention on staying alive. If it a few months back, he would have stayed with Carl, but the young man knew what he was doing, and he knew he could take care of himself.

Shane shot every Walker in his path, but stopped when he saw Rick stop in place, dirt shooting up from the ground in front of him. Rick looked to the guard tower where Carol was. Shane followed his gaze, and saw Carol, holding her automatic gun. "Sorry!" he could faintly hear her say. Carol had become quite the shot, but she still wasn't perfect.

Shane continued his attack on the Walkers, shooting some, stabbing others. He didn't realize there was many of them in the courtyard. He looked to see how the others were doing; Daryl and T-Dog were taking care of their Walkers just fine. He looked for Rick and Carl; he saw Carl covering his father, firing at Walkers while Rick quickly opened the door to a building. He heard Rick fire several shots in a row, just in case Walkers came tumbling out.

Shane finished dispatching his Walkers, then went to check on the others. He saw everyone else had also finished off their Walkers. He went to the building that Rick went to, and entered. He stepped over three dead Walkers, then walked up the stairs. He found Rick looking out at the prison, and joined him by his side. He watched with Rick as the others quickly came into the courtyard. He saw Carl close the gate, after everyone had entered. He looked at Rick. "Should we clear out the prison today?"

"No," Rick told him. "We'll do that tomorrow, after we get a good nights rest. We've also got to make an inventory of all our ammo, make sure we have enough to take the prison."

"Tomorrow then," Shane said. He couldn't help but laugh. "Imagine, a prison being the safest place on Earth."

"It is kinda funny." The two of them laughed.

The group sat around a campfire, contemplating tomorrow. They all had hope that this prison, this fortress that kept them safe from the evil of the world, would once again protect them, though from a much more prevalent evil. Shane, Rick, and Daryl had gone over how many guns and bullets they had left, and figured they had enough; if they didn't, then the could always stay in the courtyard at the very least.

"Dad, how long do you think it'll take to take the prison over?" Carl asked.

"I don't know Carl." Rick sat next to his son, holding his wife close to him. "Hopefully it won't take long."

"I've spent my life trying to avoid prison," Felipe said. "Kinda pisses me off that I failed at that."

They sat in silence around the campfire. Shane looked to see Daryl and Carol rummaging around a turned over vehicle, looking for anything useful. If not, they could use it as shelter. Shane wondered if the two of them would ever seal the deal; sure, there was the age difference, but it was the apocalypse, you couldn't be picky anymore.

"Do you think this'll become a home for us, Rick?" Shane asked. "Somewhere we can stay?"

"Yeah, I do," Rick replied. "After we clear out the prison, we'll get rid of the bodies, toss 'em in the forest."

"This soil's good," Hershel said, inspecting the dirt. "We can grow good crops here; corn, rice, carrots. Enough food enough to feed us all."

"Would cut our food runs in half," Glenn said. "Wouldn't have to be afraid of running out of food again."

"What's this about food?" Shane turned to see Daryl coming up with Carol.

"We can grow crops here. The soil here's perfect," Hershel told him.

"I prefer meat," Daryl said. "I can still go hunting."

"We could probably catch some animals, keep them in the courtyard until we need them," Maggie added.

They sat in silence until Hershel looked at Beth. "Beth," he said, "sing 'The Parting Grass?"

"Daddy," Beth said.

"Please?" Beth smiled, then cleared her throat. She began to sing.

Shane, Rick, and Daryl led the attack on the prison. Felipe, Glenn, Hershel, T-Dog, and Guillermo followed their lead. They opened the gates to the prison building, where they were systematically killing off every Walker. Shane held his gun and fired at the Walkers, killing everyone he could. The Walkers were piling out of the building, most of them being in guard uniforms or prison outfits. Shane noticed some civilian clothed Walkers, and that worried him; they may not have been the first to try and take the prison, and that was very disconcerting.

As the Walkers came out, Shane and the others would destroy the brains with their melee weapons, deciding to save the ammo for the Walkers inside the prison. Shane saw T-Dog carrying an old police riot shield, using it to fend off the oncoming Walkers. "Where the hell'd he get that?" Shane asked himself. Shane looked around for another, but found none.

Shane noticed a few Walkers dressed in body armor, and became worried. These Walkers had riot armor on, and Shane couldn't find a way to remove the helmets. He wanted to use his gun, but they were running low on bullets, and they needed to save them for inside the prison.

The group killed the Walkers they could, until Maggie stabbed one of the armored Walkers by shoving her knife upwards into it's brain. "See that?!" she asked, excited. Shane and the others followed suit, shoving their knives upward. Shane went to shut the door, before any more Walkers could come out. He shut the door, and turned around to see only a few Walkers remaining.

They killed the last remaining Walkers, until only one remained, another armored one. Shane watched as Rick brought the Walker to the floor. Shane hurried to him. Shane watched as Rick tore the helmet off of the Walker, and he felt himself gag; the Walker's face peeled off wet tissue paper. Rick took his knife and stabbed it in the head, killing it.

"That was disgusting," Shane said, putting his hand to his mouth to stop himself from vomiting. "Don't ever do that again, Rick."

"How was I supposed to know it's face would peel off?" Rick stood up, equally disgusted.

Everyone gathered outside the building, moving the Walkers out of their way. T-Dog pointed to the civilian clothed Walkers. "These weren't prisoners or guards," he said. "This place may not be as secure as we think."

Rick looked at the bodies. "These bodies aren't recent," he said. "They were probably here for months."

Shane kicked one of the Walkers. "Not only that, but there are only a few of these ones. They could've been visitors."

"It doesn't matter either way," Daryl told them. "This place's still better than being out there."

"We should go into the prison now," Rick said. "Best to clear it out as soon as possible." The group prepared their guns to take the prison.

The group went into the prison, killing every Walker they found. They fired their guns at the Walkers as they came at them. There was more than they had thought there would be. The group ran for a hallway. Shane ran with the others into a hallway, trying to get to a safer area. As they were running, a group of Walkers cut off Shane, Glenn, and Maggie from the rest of the group.  
Shane shot the Walkers that came near them, but soon ran out of bullets. "In here!" he heard Glenn yell, guiding Maggie to a door.

Shane followed them in, and shut the door, locking them inside. He could hear the Walkers heading for the others. "We'll stay here for a few minutes," Shane told them. "The Walkers outside are riled up from the others, so the way should clear soon."

The three of them waited in silence, until they heard a voice. "Maggie? Glenn?" It was Hershel.

"It's my Dad!" Maggie said, smiling. "He's okay! Dad we're-"

Maggie was cut off by a loud scream. "HERSHEL!" someone yelled. Shane realized it was Rick. Shane opened the door, and the three of them ran out to find Hershel on the floor, holding his leg; he was bit.

"DAD!" Maggie yelled.

Rick shot a Walker that was leaning weakly against; it seemed to already be dead to Shane. "We gotta move!" Rick ordered. He grabbed Hershel by the arm, and with Daryl's help, lifted him up. "GO!"

Shane lead the way to another room, as the outside was blocked off by Walkers. Shane opened a door labeled 'Cafeteria', and shut it once everyone was in. Rick and Daryl laid Hershel down on the floor, and Rick reached into a bag. He pulled out an axe, and looked at Hershel. "It's the only way to save your life!" he told Hershel. Shane watched as Rick started hacking away at Hershel's bitten foot. He stopped after three chops, steeled himself, and resumed. Shane couldn't help but watch as Hershel fell unconcious from the pain and shock.

Rick finished chopping off his foot, then reached for several sterile, already prepared pieces of cloth. It was Hershel's suggestion that they always carry a clean axe and sterile supplies, just in case someone got bit. Shane was hoping that they wouldn't ever have to use that axe. Shane aimed his gun at Hershel, just in case he turned; it was decided that if someone was injured in such a way that would probably result in death, that someone would be ready to put them out of their misery.

Shane watched as Daryl looked at Rick, gesturing his back backward. Shane wondered what he was doing, when Daryl grabbed his crossbow, stood, and turned around. Shane followed his gaze, expecting to find Walkers. Daryl's flashlight shone on the gated prison cafeteria, showing five people holding various makeshift weapons, from pots and pans, to a kitchen knife.

"Holy shit," one of them, a man with a full beard, said. Shane looked at them, then back to Rick. He hadn't expected this.


	8. Death Penalty

**Here's chapter seven. I had a little trouble coming up with a title for the chapter. Please remember to Read & Review. This chapter will show a little about how much Shane's survival influenced Rick.  
**

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Death Penalty**

Shane aimed his gun at the group of men behind the cage; how did prisoners survive the apocalypse? The five men slowly came out of the room, one by one. Of the five men, the largest, and by far the most intimidating, was an enormous black man; behind him the bearded white man, the one who spoke before, followed him. Another black man came out next, small and skinny. After him, a Hispanic man came out; Shane saw he had a single gun tucked inside his pants. The last man to get out was yet another black man; this one had facial hair covering his entire chin.

"Back up!" Daryl told them, aiming his crossbow at them.

"What happened?" the bearded white man asked.

"He was bit," Rick told him.

"Bit?" the Hispanic man said. He took his gun out of his pants.

"Don't even think about," Daryl said, aiming his crossbow at the man with the gun.

"He's bit," the Hispanic man argued. "He'll turn!"

"I took care of it!" Rick told him loudly. "The infection won't kill him now."

"Lower your gun," Shane told the man, pointing his gun at him. The man lowered his, keeping it at his side.

"Is your friend okay?" the large black man said. "Are you sure he won't die?"

"I'm sure," Rick told him. "Now get back."

"Are you guys a rescue party?" the scruffy bearded man asked.

"No, we're not," Daryl told them. Shane kept his gun on the Hispanic man; he was trouble, he could tell. "Rick," he said, never looking away from the man, "we gotta get Hershel outta here."

"Yeah, now. We'll talk outside. Stay where we can see you, and everything'll be fine."

Shane and Daryl kept their guns trained on the five men while Rick and T-Dog carried Hershel.

* * *

Outside in The Courtyard, Rick, Shane, Daryl, and Guillermo stood with the prison survivors. Felipe and Carol tended to Hershel in the secured prison block. Glenn consoled Maggie and Beth, while everyone else waited for what would happen next. Shane, Daryl, Guillermo, and Rick stood outside the entrance to the prison, which they had successfully secured. Rick was talking to the leader of the men, the Hispanic man. "Who are you people?"

"We're prisoners," the Hispanic man said. "My name's Tomas. This is Andrew." He pointed to the small black man, the smallest of them all.

"I'm Oscar," the medium sized black man said.

"I'm Big Tiny," the large black man said. Shane noticed he was very light spoken.

"And I'm Axel," the scruffy bearded man said. "It's nice to meet you all."

"How did you survive?" Shane asked.

"A guard took us to the cafeteria," Tomas told him. "Threw me his piece and told us we'd be safe there. Said he'd be back, but he never showed up. Must've left us to rot."

"He didn't do that, Tomas," Axel defended. "He was a good person; he wouldn't have left us there to die."

"Whatever," Tomas said.

"What about you guys?" Andrew asked. "You guys bandits or something?"

"No." Rick looked at everyone in The Courtyard. "We're just a group of survivors."

"What happened to the world?" Big Tiny asked. "Where's the government? Shouldn't they have fixed everything by now?"

"There _is_ no government," Rick said. "There's nothing out there. Everyone else is dead or worse."

"Oh no," Big Tiny said. "I've gotta find my mom!"

"I'm sorry," Guillermo said to him, patting him on the shoulder. "She probably didn't make it."

"Oh god," the giant said. He started heaving. "Not my momma!" He held back his tears.

"We came here to take the prison," Rick told him. "It's gotta be the safest place on earth right now."

"This prison is ours!" Tomas tells him. "We were here first."

"The hell it is!" Rick advanced toward Tomas. "WE cleared out the prison. If it weren't for us, you'd still be trapped in that cafeteria!"

"Now hold on," Axel said. "We shouldn't be fighting each other; why don't we just join together?"

"I like that idea," Big Tiny said, trying to stop his heaving. "I don't wanna be fighting anyone." He still sounded upset.

"Shut it, Tiny!" Tomas yelled. "We ain't joining anyone; 'specially some stupid cop and his deputies!"

Shane looked at him. "How do you know we're cops?" he asked.

"I can spot a pig from a mile away," he insulted him.

Rick ignored the insult, and looked to The Courtyard; his group, his family, were dying of hunger. "We'll make a deal," Rick said. "We'll help you clear out another prison block, so we can both live in the prison. In return, you give us half of your food."

"How much you got?" Daryl asked.

"We got some left," Axel told them. He looked at Big Tiny. "How much Tiny?"

"Enough for all of us," he said. He seemed to have calmed down a little.

Tomas looked angry, and Shane didn't like that. He knew they would have to keep an eye on him. "Fine," he said. "Half our food, and you clear out a block."

"Oh no, you're gonna help us," Shane told. "All of you. You've been in there way too long; you need to learn how to kill the Walkers."

"'Walkers'?" Oscar repeated. "That what you call them?"

"What do you call them?" Guillermo asked.

"We never really gave them a name," Axel said. "Just called them 'things'."

"Let's focus here," Rick said, trying to serious. "Best to do this as soon as possible." Rick walked off, followed by Guillermo.

"Okay. Let's go," Daryl said, gesturing for the five prisoners to go ahead of him and Shane; he wanted to make sure they couldn't ambush them, and Shane agreed. He wanted to keep a close on Tomas as well.

* * *

Rick, Shane, Daryl, and Guillermo followed the prisoners to where they kept their food. Rick entered first, his eyes widening at the sight. Shane wondered just how much they had. Shane came in next, and saw an entire storage locker full of food; dried noodles, corn, bottles of water, canned goods. This place really was a gold mine.

"You can take a bag of corn," Tomas said, pointing to a large bag of corn. "Some water, a few cans."

"The deal was for half," Rick told him. "Half of this is ours now."

"I'll help you carry it." Shane looked at Big Tiny as he grabbed a large bag of corn.

"Thanks," Shane said. He liked this Big Tiny guy.

* * *

Rick, Shane, Daryl, Guillermo, T-Dog, and Miguel guided the prisoners to the prison block they would clear out for them; Rick, Daryl, and T-Dog lead the front, while Shane, Guillermo, and Miguel stayed in the rear. Rick didn't want the prisoners outnumbering them, and didn't want to get ambushed from behind. "You've gotta destroy the brain," Rick instructed. "Nothing else kills them. When you use a gun, only aim for the head."

"Yeah, yeah," Tomas said. Rick had taken away their only gun in order to prevent them from attracting more Walkers.

"Why can't we use guns?" Big Tiny asked.

"Because they attract more Walkers," Daryl explained. "You don't wanna be surrounded by them. Now be quiet."

They walked until they came upon two Walkers; they were dressed in prison uniforms. "Okay," Rick said, "you deal with them, like we told you."

The prisoners looked at the Walkers, then attacked them. Shane raised an eyebrow at what he was seeing; he saw Andrew and Axel get behind the two Walkers and grab their arms, holding them back. Tomas and Oscar proceeded to stab the Walkers in the stomach.

"What are they doing?" Daryl asked.

"I don't know." Rick walked up to them and pulled them away. He proceeded to stab the Walkers in the head, killing them. "In. The. HEAD!" he stressed, pointing his knife at his temple.

Shane noticed Big Tiny wasn't there, and wondered where he was. He looked behind him to see Big Tiny slowly backing up; he was scared. "Hey," Shane said to him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I don't think I can do this," the giant of man said.

"What do you me-" Shane stopped when he saw a Walker behind him. "Behind you!" Big Tiny turned around, and pushed the Walker away from him. The giant began tumbling backward, and fell to the floor. The Walker regained it's balance, and headed once again for Big Tiny. Shane ran to the Walker and stabbed it in the head, killing it. He looked at the man on the floor. "Don't do that." Shane looked at everyone in front; Guillermo hurried to Shane's side, in case any more Walkers came up behind them. Rick, Daryl, and the other prisoners stood in front of them.

"Where'd she come from?" Guillermo asked, inspecting the dead Walker. He looked at the Walkers arms.

"Dude," Miguel commented, "it's hands are missing."

"I wanna go back to the cafeteria!" Big Tiny said. "I'm not cut out for this!"

"You're doing this," Rick told him. "It's either that or die!" Rick walked away, back to leading the group.

"Come on, Big Guy," Guillermo said. "We'll make sure you won't get hurt."

The giant followed, though he was scared. Shane wondered if Big Tiny was a little slow, or just a very nice person.

"Stay next to him," Shane told Guillermo and Miguel.

"Yeah." Guillermo looked at Shane. He dropped his voice down to a whisper. "You think he's a little slow?"

"Yeah." Shane went on ahead. "Why the hell was he in this place?" he asked himself.

* * *

Rick lead them further into prison. Shane saw Daryl close to Rick, leaning into his ear. He was telling him something he didn't want the prisoners overhearing. They killed a few Walkers as the went by, until they came upon a large group of them.

"Kill them quickly and quietly," Rick ordered, whispering. "GO!" Rick went for the closest Walker, stabbing it in the head with his knife. The prisoners went after Rick, attacking the other Walkers, this time aiming for their heads.

Shane, Guillermo, Miguel, and Big Tiny attacked the Walkers that were left over. Shane kept an eye Big Tiny, who killed his Walkers with only hit every time; the giant may not have had the heart to kill them, but he certainly had the body. Shane saw Walkers running out of a nearby room, and became worried they would be cornered.

Shane stabbed a Walker in the head and threw it to the ground. After he did, he noticed Tomas swing his crowbar at a Walker, nearly hitting Rick; Shane knew it was intentional, but they had to deal with the Walkers first. Shane killed another Walker when he saw Tomas stab a Walker in the stomach with his crowbar. Tomas threw the Walker at Rick, who fell to the ground with the Walker on top of him. Shane was about to help him when he saw Daryl grab the Walker and throw it off him. The Walker fell at Big Tiny's feet, and he crushed it's head with baseball bat.

The Walkers stopped coming, their numbers finally reaching it's end. Shane stood behind Tomas, his knife ready. Rick looked at Tomas with hate in his eyes; Shane knew what he was going to do.

"Sorry about that," Tomas told him. "Shit happens."

"Yeah," Rick replied. "Shit happens." Shane Rick's grip his machete harder, bracing himself for what he was about to do. He watched as Rick thrust his machete into Tomas' head. Tomas didn't even time to respond; after the machete was impaled into his head, his body just stood there.

"NO!" Andrew yelled. He looked at Rick, then ran at him with his weapon. Rick kicked him back, and he fell to the floor. Andrew ran away, and Rick followed him.

"Tomas," Big Tiny said. He went over to his dead friend and got on his knees. "Why?" He looked at Shane and Guillermo.

"Get on your knees!" Daryl yelled, aiming his crossbow at the prisoners. Oscar and Axel did as he ordered, while Big Tiny inspected his friend. Shane aimed his gun at them as well, though he felt uncomfortable aiming his gun at Big Tiny.

They waited until Rick came back. Andrew was no where to be seen, and Shane assumed he was dead. Rick went to Axel and put his gun in his face. "Tell me one reason why I shouldn't?!" he demanded.

Axel's face showed immense fear. "Please, we didn't know Tomas was going to do," he said with fear in his voice. "I swear. We're not Tomas and Andrew, we're not bad people."

"How could you not know he was going to do that?" Daryl asked. "You've been living with him for the past year."

"I swear, I didn't know." Axel's voice started to buckle. "Listen, I like my pharmaceuticals, but that's it, I swear! I've never been a violent person!"

Rick looked at him, then looked at Oscar, who just stared with hard eyes. Rick trained his gun on him next. "What about you?" Rick asked.

"I ain't begging for my life," Oscar told him. "I never have, and I'm not doing it now. So just do what you gotta do." Shane kept his gun on Big Tiny, just in case he did anything.

"Rick," Shane said, "what do we do with them?"

Rick looked at Shane, then at Big Tiny. Shane hadn't noticed, but Big Tiny was actually crying a little bit. Big Tiny looked at Rick with tears running down his cheeks. "I understand why you did it," the giant said. "But he was still my friend."

Rick lowered his gun, then walked off.

* * *

Rick, Shane, Daryl, and Guillermo lead the prisoners to the now secure cell block. When they entered, they saw rows of dead bodies, all of them prisoners. Shane knew what had happened; they were executed, killed by the guards in order to prevent any kind of riot.

"I knew these people," Axel said. He looked at Rick. "These were good people."

Rick looked at them. "You'll stay here, like we agreed," he said, ignoring Axel's words. "You don't come near us, we come near you."

"You can't really expect to stay by ourselves, do you?" Oscar asked.

"It's either this or you leave." Rick walked away, leaving the prisoners to their new home. Shane and Daryl followed Rick.

"I'd suggest you take the bodies outside and burn them," Shane heard T-Dog tell the prisoners. When they reached the door, Shane turned to look at the others. T-Dog walked towards them, while Guillermo and Felipe stayed with the prisoners, talking to them.

Rick opened the door and looked back. He saw Guillermo and Miguel with the prisoners. "Are you coming or not?" Rick yelled. Guillermo and Miguel hurried over to the others. Guillermo looked at Rick.

"You sure about Rick?" he asked. "I mean, just because they were prisoners doesn't mean they're bad people."

"Their friends were," he countered. "You saw yourself, how Tomas threw that Walker at me!"

"I'm just saying, my people were filled with gang members, remember? And they helped me take care of the old people."

"He has a point, Rick," T-Dog said. "They aren't like those other two."

"And what about Tiny?" Miguel asked. "That guy's either really good, or really slow. Shane said so himself." he pointed at Shane.

Rick looked at Shane. "You gotta admit, Rick," he said. "He doesn't seem to be all there in the head."

Rick looked at the ground. "Alright," Rick said, "we'll give them a chance. But they stay here until they prove themselves! If they cause us any problems..." He trailed off, not knowing how to finish his sentence.

"It's better than nothing," Guillermo said. "Trust me Rick, they're good people." He turned around and made his way to the prisoners.

"How do they prove themselves?" Daryl asked. "We don't exactly have anything they can do."

"We'll find something," Shane said. He looked at Rick. "Maybe we can have them kill some Walkers or something?"

"We'll see," Rick said. "Let's get back, check on Hershel and the others."

* * *

**How'd you like it? I figure Rick wouldn't be as hardened as he is in the show, so he'd be willing to give them a chance. I also saved Big Tiny, mainly because I liked the character. I am making it seem as if he slow because in the show he seemed a little slow. I remembered The Vatos Gang as well, how they all seemed like they were gang bangers. I figured Guillermo would give them a chance before everyone else would. Please remember to leave a Review.**


	9. Proof

_ Here's chapter eight. I do not own The Walking Dead. Have fun reading this chapter. Remember to Read & Review.  
_

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Proof**

Shane followed Rick and Daryl to their secure cell block. When they arrived, Shane saw Carl aiming his gun at a cell. Rick ran to him, followed by Shane and Daryl. Shane got to the cell to find Lori on seat, and Hershel breathing heavily and raggedly. Carl was shaking.

"What happened?" Rick asked.

"He stopped breathing," Maggie cried. "Lori brought him back. Thank you!" She hugged her father, and wouldn't let go.

Shane was worried that the old man would die from his wound and become a Walker, and it seemed he was right to worry. But he was glad that Lori saved him. Shane then noticed that Felipe was missing. "Where's Felipe? Shouldn't he be nursing Hershel?"

"He went to the infirmary to look for medical supplies," Carl told him. "I found some gauze there, and he wanted to see if he could find anything else."

"You went to the infirmary?" Daryl asked. "Were there any Walkers?"

"Just two." Carl lowered his gun when he was sure Hershel was okay. "They were easy to deal with."

"You went alone?" Shane asked.

"Yeah. It was nothing I couldn't handle."

"You shouldn't have gone!" Shane saw Lori's pregnant belly as she came out of the cell. "You should have asked someone else to go!"

"Lori, he can take care of himself," Rick told her. "But she is right, Carl; you shouldn't have gone alone."

"You should've taken Felipe or Glenn or with you," Shane added. "We shouldn't be going anywhere alone."

"I was fine. Like I said; there was only two."

"I suppose, but don't go alone anymore."

"Alright, got it." Carl stayed near the cell door, his hands on gun.

"Shane," Rick said, "you go to the infirmary, make sure Felipe's okay. Like you said, we're not to go anywhere alone."

"I'll go too," Carl said. "I know the way."

"No, you're staying here with us!" Lori told him. "Rick, tell him he's staying here."

"He'll be fine Lori," Rick told her. "Shane'll be with him."

Shane looked the expression on Lori's face; she didn't like it, she never did, but she relented. "Fine. Shane, please don't take your eyes off him."

"Don't worry, I won't." Shane nodded to Carl, who hurried to his side. "We'll be back soon." The two walked off, Shane following Carl's lead.

* * *

Shane and Carl walked in the halls of the prison, guns at the ready in case any Walkers showed up. "Good work finding the infirmary," Shane told him. "With that gauze you found, Hershel will probably make it through this."

"My mom doesn't think it was such idea," Carl replied. "She keeps babying me, like some defenseless little kid."  
"Can you blame her? No matter how old you get, you'll still be a kid to her."

"I know, I just wish she would see that I can take care of myself. I can fight like you and the others, I can make my own decisions. But I guess I see her point; I shouldn't have gone alone to begin with."

"Yeah, that was stupid of you," Shane scolded. "You should've had Felipe or Glenn go with you."

"I know, I know. Don't worry, I won't do that again."

"Good."

The two of them walked in silence for a little longer, until Carl pointed to a closed door. "That's the infirmary," he said.

Shane nodded, and went for the door. He saw a few Walkers down one of the hallways, but ignored them. He looked through the glass on the door, and he could see Felipe packing things into a pack.

"He's in there," Shane told Carl. "Come on." Shane opened the door and entered the room. He was immediately met with a gun to his face, held by Felipe. When Felipe saw who it was, he lowered his gun. Shane gestured for Carl to get in, and he followed suit, silently closing the door.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that," Felipe said. "You'll get your face blown off."

"Yeah, well, you shouldn't have gone alone," Shane told him.

"It was fine. Nothing happened." He went back to packing things into the bag he had on a table. "Found some pills in a few hiding spots; figured someone would be hidden in a prison. Mostly pain killers, though."

"Any antibiotics?" Shane asked.

"A few bottles, but like I said, most of it was pain killers. Luckily for us, some prisoner's had STD's and the like, so they were given medication for them."

"So you finished here?" Carl asked. "We need to get back to Hershel."  
"Yeah, just about. I've been looking for some hiding spots in here; prisons were filled with drugs, so I figured there'd be some in here somewhere."

Shane went to help with the packing, while Carl stood by the door, in case the Walkers came their way. He would look at the pill bottles as he put them in the pack; he was used to using their street names, not their actual names, so he didn't know what was what.

"That's the last of it," Felipe said, zipping the pack closed. "Also found those," he said, pointing to a pair of crutches leaning on an old hospital bed. "We can give 'em to Hershel, make it easier for him to get around."

"Alright, I'll get 'em." Shane walked over to the crutches and picked them up. He joined Carl and Felipe at the door. "It clear to go?"

"Looks like it," Carl said. "But they're looking this way, so they might follow us."

"No problem, we can outrun them."

"Then let's go," Felipe said, bracing himself for the run. "We need to get these to Hershel."

Carl opened the door, and the three of them ran for the halls. Shane could hear the Walkers stumbling after them, making their sickening screech as they did came.

* * *

Shane, Carl, and Felipe made it to the secure part of the prison, shutting the cell door behind them. They had easily outrun the Walkers, seeing as most of them were rotted and frail. Felipe went on ahead to check on Hershel, wanting to get the supplies to him as soon as possible. Shane followed him, as did Carl.  
When they arrived at their cell block, Shane saw that everyone was present, except for Guillermo and Miguel. "Where's G and my cousin?" Felipe asked, entering the cell and putting the pack on the floor. He opened it, and began rummaging through it, searching for something.

"They're with the prisoners," Rick told him. "They want to see if they can get passed what their friends did to us."

"What do you mean?" the nurse asked. He pulled bottle of pills out of his pack and went to give them to Hershel, who had awakened while they were gone. He held a bottle of water to his patient's mouth, helping him swallow the pills.

"Two of their friends attacked us," Rick told him. "Threw a Walker at me, tried to hit me with his weapon."

"What'd you do?"

"I had no choice; I had to kill them."

"Made the right choice," Shane said. "Those two were nothin' but trouble."

"And the other guys?" Felipe asked. He focused most of his attention on Hershel, but still heard the others. "What'd they do?"  
"Nothin'," Daryl said. "Said they didn't plan on doing anythin' like that."

"Guillermo thinks we can reach some kind of understanding," Rick said. "We'll give them a chance. He reminded us about how most of your group at the nursing center consisted of gang members, that not everyone is a bad guy."

"That sounds like him. 'Bad guy is a job, not who you are.'" Felipe moved to Hershel's leg, removing the bloodied gauze that covered. Shane noticed that, while the bleeding didn't stop, it did lessen. Felipe replaced the gauze with clean ones, wrapping the leg the way it should be wrapped.

"That's a good saying," T-Dog said. "I knew plenty of people who would have been considered bad guys; drug dealers, car thieves. But the only reason they did those things was because they had to."

"Exactly." Felipe looked at the others, finished wrapping Hershel's leg. "But what did you guy's think of them?"

"They seemed decent enough," Shane said. "The big one seems a bit slow though. I'm not sure if it's that, or if he's a just a sensitive person."

"Seemed like a crybaby to me," Daryl commented. "If he was slow, he wouldn't've been in here in the first place."

"Either way," Shane said, "if they're good people, then they can join us."

"How're they gonna prove themselves?" Carl asked.

"I was thinking we could have them go on supply runs with us," Rick told his son. "One at a time, of course; we wouldn't want them outnumbering us."

"I can take one of them out with me on my next run," Glenn said. "But which one?"

"You can take the one with the scruffy beard," Rick told him. "Try and find some more medical supplies for Hershel."

"I'll go too," Felipe said. "Can never have too much medicine."

"The other two we'll leave in their cell block. We'll figure out the rest later." Rick walked to the door and exited the prison.

Shane followed Rick, wanting to talk to him about the prisoners.

* * *

Shane exited the prison, finding Rick looking out into the courtyard; he seemed like he was in a state disbelief. "What'cha thinkin' about?" Shane asked.

"I just can't believe we have this," he replied. "A safe place, a place to call home."

"Me neither." Shane went by his side. He could see Walkers walking around the fences, some trying to push their way through. "I can't believe those guys survived here."

"It's been a year since this hell happened. A year since everyone had to become something they're not. Maybe those prisoners are good. We've met people out there who were evil, who were probably normal before all of this happened."

"Who's to say the opposite can't happen." Shane wondered if the prisoners could prove themselves to be good people, if they could really fit into the group. He sincerely hoped they could.

They stood in silence for several minutes, until Rick finally broke it. "There's a reason I want Axel to go with them," he said. "Beside proving himself."

"What do you mean?" Shane wondered what secret meaning there could be behind his wanting to send him specifically.

"He said that he 'like his pharmaceuticals.' If he's still hooked to drugs, then he'd be a problem. We don't need our meds going missing just so some junkie can get his fix."

"That's right, he did. And you want him to go to see if he tries to take any drugs, hide them for himself."

"Exactly. A year without the stuff might've helped him kick it, but you and I have both seen drugged out people before."

"Don't remind me." Shane remembered the many people he had arrested for committing some crime or another just to pay for fix. He remembered one person, a man, mugged some poor woman walking her baby in a stroller. The bastard beat her to death and took her pocket book, leaving the baby in the stroller. Rick and Shane found the man later on in the day, begging his dealer to give him anything for the contents of the pocket book. He straight out admitted to killing the woman then, repeating over and over again, 'I beat some bitch to death for this man, please!' Shane wanted to shoot him there.

"Hopefully he'll do the right thing and stay clean." Rick turned around and walked off. Shane wondered why his best friend was so restless; he kept walking around, unable to sit still for more than a few minutes. He felt bad for him; leading this group in the right direction took a lot of effort, and Rick was wearing thin.

* * *

The next morning, Shane woke up to Rick and Guillermo talking outside his cell; they were talking about the supply run with the prisoners. Guillermo and Miguel had stayed in the prisoner's cell block the night before, to show them they were giving them a chance.

"Glenn'll take Felipe and Miguel with him on his run in an hour," Rick said. "He's gonna take Axel along as well."

"Just him?" Guillermo asked. "Why not another?"

"We don't want them outnumbering us if they're gonna be trouble. We'll have the other two stay here; they can prove themselves another time."

"If you say so." Shane got up from his bed, blinking his eyes hard to get rid of the sleep he had left in his eyes. The beds were surprisingly comfortable; he was actually a little jealous. He walked out of the cell and found that the others were already awake.

"You really can sleep, you know that?" Shane turned around to see Hershel, walking on the crutches Felipe had found.

"You can walk?" Shane asked sleepily. He rubbed his eyes with his palms. He then realized what he was seeing, and what he had said. "Holy crap, you can walk!" He didn't think the old man would be back on his feet, well foot, so quickly.

"As good as I can with only one foot," the old man laughed. "If it wasn't for you all, I probably wouldn't have made it. Rick told me how you, Carl, and Felipe went and found the infirmary; if it wasn't for those supplies, I certainly wouldn't be up like I am now."

"It was Carl who found it," Shane said. He looked for the young boy, and saw him sitting next to Beth, showing her his gun. He knew he had a crush on her, and it seemed like he was trying to impress her with his knowledge of guns. "He's the one who should be praised."

"You all should be praised." Hershel walked off, heading for Beth and Carl. Shane wondered how the old man would feel if he had Carl as a son-in-law in a few years; it certainly seemed like they would be getting together in the future.

Shane went over to Rick and Guillermo, who were talking about the other two prisoners. Guillermo suggested having them help in killing Walkers, seeing as they were horribly inept at it; Shane remembered the jail-break way they had attacked the Walkers before, and laughed a little on the inside.

"So what're we talkin' about?" Shane asked. Rick and Guillermo looked at him.

"I see you're awake," Rick said. "I'm always amazed at how long you can sleep for."

"We're talking about the survivors we found here," Guillermo said.

"Yeah. Rick wants Glenn to take the scruffy bearded one on a supply run today."

Guillermo looked at Shane. "Yeah. And his name's Axel. I was thinking we could have the other two help in Walker extermination. Remember them in the halls before?"

"Yeah, I remember," Shane laughed. "That sound's like a good idea."

"I was thinking we could have them clear the fences, burn the bodies after they're done." Guillermo produced a lighter out of his pocket. "Oscar and Big Tiny look like they can carry the bodies easier than the rest of us."

"I'm okay with it," Rick said. "I still want to keep an eye on them though."

"I understand. I'll tell them what we want them to do." Guillermo walked off, slapping Hershel on the back as he did so, congratulating him on his recovery.

* * *

Shane watched as the drove with Glenn, Felipe, Miguel, and Axel drove out of the courtyard. Carl opened the gate with the key, shutting it once the car was out. He hoped Axel would do good. It would be good to have three more people in the group.

Shane saw Carl with his mother; he was feeling her stomach. The baby must be kicking! Shane had wanted to feel the baby kick before, but he was always busy with something else, be it killing Walkers or looking for supplies. He walked over to the two of them. He saw Maggie walk over to them as well; she smiled and pointed to Lori's stomach. She was asking to feel the baby kicking.

"Hey," Shane said. Lori and Carl looked at him; Carl was smiling, and Lori seemed to avert her eyes. She knew how he felt about the baby, and she didn't agree with him. "Mind if I feel?"

"No, go ahead," Carl answered. He clearly didn't get the situation, at least not entirely. "It's so cool." He put his hand back on her stomach.

Shane looked at Lori. She looked him the eye. She smiled. "Go ahead," she told him. She lifted her shirt up, revealing her full stomach; Shane wondered what the baby would like, what it would be. What it's name would be. He put his hand to Lori's stomach; he immediately felt the baby kick, as if telling him it knew who he was.

"Shane, you're crying.," Carl said. Shane let go of Lori's stomach, and brought his hand to his eyes; he felt the tears, warm and moist. He hadn't realized it, but he was crying.

"Sorry." Shane wiped the tears away and sniffed heavily. He didn't think he would be like this. "I'm just a little emotional, is all." He wiped his nose with his hand, feeling it run.

"What do you think it's gonna?" Maggie asked, trying to divert the conversation elsewhere. She knew Shane believed the baby was his, and wanted to avoid a situation. "Boy or girl?"

"I don't know," Lori replied. "I thought Carl was gonna be a girl, and we you know how he turned out."

"I hope it's boy," Carl said. "I've always wanted a little brother."

"Boy or girl," Shane said, his voice cracking, "we'll all love em' the same."

Shane put his hand back on Lori's stomach. He could feel the baby kicking again. He could feel more tears running down his cheeks, and he tried to stop them.

"Shane," Shane heard, though he didn't register it. "Shane!" Shane snapped out of his world, then looked behind him to see Rick. He looked at with a serious expression, and he knew what he thinking. "I need to talk to you." He gestured to the fences.

"Yeah, sure." Shane let go of Lori's stomach and followed Rick as he walked to the fences. He looked back Lori, who looked down at the ground; she clearly felt guilty about the whole situation.

Shane followed Rick to the fences, stopping next to him. He wasn't looking forward to the discussion they were about to have. "I don't care what you believe," Rick told him, still looking out at the fence. He couldn't look at Shane. "But that baby is mine, not yours."

"Rick-" Shane started.

"No!" Rick interrupted. He looked at Shane. "I'm gonna raise that baby, not you!"

Shane felt more tears running down his cheeks. "Rick," he said, his voice surprisingly strong. "That baby is mine. Why can't you accept that?"

"Because she's MY wife! We talked about this months ago, you said you'd let me take care of the baby, whether it's mine or yours!"

"Well that was then; this is now!" Shane said loudly. He pointed at Rick. "You-"

Shane was cut off by a loud siren. He looked at the source of the sound; it was the speakers from the walls of the prison. "What the hell?" Shane asked.

"What's happening?" Rick asked. "How'd those sirens get turned on?!"

Shane saw Glenn and Daryll rushing towards them. "Rick, Shane!" Glenn yelled. They stopped at them. "Something's turned on the prison sirens!"

"Yeah, we know," Shane said. "How'd this happen?"

Shane noticed something in the corner of his eye, and directed his head to two figures standing in the distance; it was the prisoner, Big Tiny and Oscar. "Do you think it was them?" Glenn asked.

"Who else could it be?" Rick said angrily. He began walking towards the two prisoners, the other three walking behind him.

Shane wondered why the prisoners would do this, why they would jeopardize their chances at joining the group. It made no sense to him.

They made it to the prisoners, and Rick took out his gun, aiming it at the two men. "What's going on?" Rick demanded. "Why are the sirens on?"

"Whoa, whoa," Oscar said, holding up his hands. "We don't know how this happened."

"Someone did this, and I know it wasn't one of us!" Rick trained his gun on Big Tiny. "What about you?"

"No, I swear I didn't do anything!"

A shot turned their attention from the prisoners; Shane turned around and saw T-Dog firing his gun at Walkers. The dead had somehow gotten into the prison.

"Glenn, Daryl!" Rick yelled, throwing them two guns. "Take out the sirens!" Rick fired at the closest siren, hoping the gun-fire would break it. Shane aimed his gun at the next siren and fired. Glenn and Daryl followed suit, firing at the objects that attracted the Walkers, hoping to stop any more of them from coming.

While Shane, Daryl, and Glenn fired at the sirens, Shane could hear Rick talking to the prisoners. "Where's the generator room?" he asked. "We've gotta shut that down or the sirens'll keep blasting!"

"I don't know!" Big Tiny said. "Axel's the one who knows that stuff!"

"It should be one of those buildings over there," Oscar said, pointing to a far away building. "But the place is filled with those things."

"We've gotta try and shut it down!" Glenn yelled. "We can't have this place being overrun with Walkers!"

"Show us the way," Rick told the prisoners. "Now!"

Oscar began walking away, to the building he had pointed to earlier. Big Tiny followed him, as Rick, Shane, Daryl, and Glenn.

As the six of them ran to the building where the generator was supposed to be, they shot at Walkers that would be in there way. They entered the building and shut the door to prevent any more Walkers from getting in.

"I think it's this way," Oscar said, pointing to the left hall. "Come on!"

* * *

They followed Oscar. The Walkers soon broke into the building. As they ran for the generator room, Shane noticed several Walkers in the rooms they were passing by; they seemed to be dead, but would move and come after them the moment they saw or heard them.

Oscar opened a door and ran in. The others followed suit, and Shane noticed the words on the door; it said 'Generator Room'. Shane and Daryl slammed the door shut as the Walkers came in; they were a lot closer than Shane had thought. "How do we turn it off?" Glenn asked.

Shane saw Daryl pushing hard against the door as the Walkers pushed on it, trying to get into the room. Shane was about to rush to his aid, when he saw Big Tiny rush to him first; the giant of a man pushed with all his might on the door, keeping the Walkers at bay. "We got this!" Big Tiny said. "Shut off the generators!"

Shane stayed near Big Tiny and Daryl, just in case the Walkers broke through. "Rick, shut 'em off, now!" Shane told him.

"I'm on it," Shane heard Rick say. The next thing Shane heard was someone yelling, then a loud clang of metal hitting metal. He turned around to see what had happened; he saw a small black man on Rick's shoulders, fighting him. Shane at first thought it was a Walker, but then realized it was in fact a human. It was the prisoner Andrew.

Shane trained his gun on Andrew, but couldn't get a clear shot of the man. He watched as Rick threw the small man off of him, throwing him into the wall. Rick's gun slid across the room in the opposite direction. Shane trained his gun on Andrew once again, when he heard a cocking sound; Rick's revolver.

"What're you waitin' for? Shoot 'im!" Andrew yelled. There was only one person who he could ordering, and that was Oscar; he must have picked up the gun. "We can take back this prison!"

Shane stepped silently to the side, planning to shoot Oscar if he did anything. He stopped when saw Daryl brandish his knife and walk towards Oscar in a crouch. He decided to stay near Andrew, and kept his gun on him instead. The next thing Shane heard was a gun-shot, then saw Andrew fall to the ground, dead, blood splattering all over the wall.

Shane hurried to where Andrew was, and saw Oscar holding Rick's gun. Daryl was behind him, ready to kill him should he try anything. Shane braced himself for killing the man, but was relieved when he handed the gun back to Rick. Rick slowly took the gun back, and Shane saw Daryl lower his knife. Rick then walked over to the generator, and pushed a few switches; the sirens shut off.

* * *

After killing the Walkers outside the generator room, Rick, Shane, and the others left the building, leaving Andrew's body to rot. Rick told them of how he left Andrew in a Walker infested area, telling him run; he thought he'd be killed by the Walkers, and if not, then would have surely left the prison. But he didn't think Andrew would come back lure Walkers into the prison.

"Thank you," Rick said to Oscar. "You could've killed me, but you didn't."

"Andrew was a scumbag," Oscar said. "Him and Tomas were bad news; besides, we have a better chance at survivin' if we stay with you guys."

They walked in silence until the made it to the secure part of the prison. They found Beth and Hershel behind a gate, safe from the Walkers. Rick and Shane walked towards a fence that had been locked by someone. They saw fresh blood on the concrete ground.

"Someone's hurt," Shane said. "That blood's not from a Walker."

"This isn't good," Rick responded. "Whoever it was, at least they locked the Walkers out."

Rick and Shane went to where Beth and Hershel were. The two of them had left their safe place and stood with the others. "Where's Lori?" Rick asked. "And Carl?"

"They were over there when the Walkers came in," Hershel said, pointing to where Shane was before with Lori, Carl, and Maggie. "Maggie was with them."

"Who locked those gates?" Shane asked.

"I think that was T-Dog," Beth said. "No one else could've done it."

"We have to search for them," Daryl said. "We've gotta find out if they're okay."

"You two stay here," Rick said, pointing at Hershel and Beth. "Glenn, you and Oscar stay with them. We'll look for the others."

"Got it," Glenn said.

Rick headed for the prison doors, and the others followed him. Shane stopped when he heard crying. He froze with fear, as did Rick. Shane then saw Carl opening a door, and was followed by Maggie. In Maggie's hands was a crying baby, covered in blood and afterbirth.

"Where's Lori?" Rick asked, though Shane believed he already knew the answer.

Maggie began to cry. She looked at Rick and shook her head. Shane could see Carl, stone faced, as he looked down at the ground. "No," Rick said. "No, no, no, NO!" He ran passed his son, Maggie, and the baby, heading into the door the three of them just came out of. Shane could do nothing but watch as his best friend disappeared from sight. He could feel more tears running down his cheek. Lori, the wife of his best friend, the woman whom he had fallen in love, was dead.

* * *

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